- A judge has issued a preliminary injunction halting plans for a wave pool at Honokea Surf Village on West Oahu.
- The injunction was granted due to concerns raised by Native Hawaiians and others about the project’s environmental impacts.
- The Hawaii Community Development Authority’s approval of the project was challenged in litigation.
A judge has halted plans to build an artificial wave pool until the developer revisees its environmental assessment and addresses the concerns of Native Hawaiians and others who say the project is unnecessary and a waste of water in surfing’s birthplace.
Hawaii Environmental Court Judge Shirley Kawamura issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday and ordered a new review of concerns about the impact to water supplies and projected growth in the area.
A group of Native Americans and other residents filed a lawsuit last year challenging the Hawaii Community Development Authority’s approval of the proposed 19-acre Honokea Surf Village on West Oahu, after the authority concluded the plan would not have a significant environmental impact.
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Opponents of the plan argue the 7-million-gallon wave pool isn’t needed within two miles of the ocean and another existing wave pool.
Ikaika Kaulukukui surfs in a wave pool at Ewa Beach in Hawaii on May 9, 2023. A judge has halted plans to build an artificial wave pool until the developer revise its environmental assessment to address the concerns of Native Hawaiians and others who say the project is unnecessary and a waste of water in the birthplace of surfing. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinko Kelleher, File)
Project backer and well-known Native Hawaiian waterman Brian Keaulana said the artificial waves would be useful for competitive surfers to practice on perfect waves that are hard to find in the ocean. Customizable waves would also help create ideal conditions for teaching surfing and life-saving techniques, he said.
“Our goal of creating a place that combines cultural education and skills-based recreation must be achieved in a way that does not harm our natural resources,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “The court’s decision gives us an opportunity to reexamine our environmental issues, particularly our water resources.”
“The evidence is insufficient for HCDA to determine whether the potential for irrevocable use of natural resources or the secondary and cumulative impacts of water use, injections, land use changes and wildlife mitigation are likely to result in significant adverse effects, favoring an injunction,” the judge wrote in his decision.
The current assessment is “vague as to the specific methodology, timeframes and actual daily water usage associated with the initial and periodic impoundment of the lagoon,” according to the ruling.
But he added that the development authority had conducted a full assessment of the potential impact on historic preservation and burial sites. The HCDA declined to comment on the ruling on Wednesday.
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Developers say the project would draw water from a private water company separate from Oahu’s water utility, taking advantage of supplies promised decades ago.
But the judge noted that they are pumped from the same underground aquifer.
“Accordingly, additional analysis is required to fully understand the potential cumulative impacts of expected growth and subsequent increases in competing water demands,” the ruling said.
The state attorney general’s office said it was reviewing the decision.
One of the plaintiffs, Healani Sonoda Pale, called the ruling the “Pono Decision,” a Hawaiian word for “justice.”
“It’s pretty telling where Hawaiians stand on this issue,” she said. “Building wave pools is not a cultural practice. The threat of wave pools is huge in terms of how many people it affects.”
