Watershed Benefits

A University of Hawai’i study looking at the natural resource value of the Ko’olau Mountains estimated the services the watershed provides to be between $7-14 billion dollars worth of benefits. These services include water production, water quality, protection of nearshore waters, flood mitigation, native habitats and species, recreation, eco-tourism, education, cultural significance (see example below), and climate change regulation. The Ko’olau watershed provides an estimated 135 billion gallons of water each year to the majority of O’ahu’s over 880,000 residents. To learn more about how a watershed functions and the benefits they provide to support our daily lives, click here.

This hula (A Ko’olau Au) tells of Hi’iaka’s journey to Kaua’i to bring Lohiau back to Pele.  Among the many obstacles she encountered was the rain at Ko’olaupoko, O’ahu.

A Ko’olau au, ‘ike i ka ua
E kokolo la lepo ana ka ua
E ka’i ku ana, ka’i mai ana ka ua
E nu mai ana ka ua i ke kuahiwi
E po’i ana ka ua me he nalu la
E puka, e puka mai ka ua laWaliwali ke one i ka hehia e ka ua
Ua holowai na kahawai
Ua koke wale na pali

Twas in Ko’olau I watch with the rain
It comes with lifting and tossing of dust
Advancing in columns, dashing along
The rain, it sighs in the mountain
The rain, it beats and whelms, like the surf
It smites, it smites, now the landPasty the earth from the stamping rain
Full run the streams, a rushing flood
The mountain walls leap with the rain