The public is getting another chance to weigh in on work being done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on a flood control project for Honolulu’s Ala Wai Canal.
According to the city’s website, the Ala Wai watershed is at high risk for widespread flooding across the basin — a risk that it says endangers some 200,000 residents.
The Army Corps of Engineers is revising a study looking at what the community can do to improve resilience in the case of intense rain and extensive flooding.
Eric Merriam, with the Army Corps of Engineers, is putting together the group’s plan for flood risk management.
“In terms of climate change, those types of events are going to continue happening more and more, and the potential magnitude and frequency of those events is also going to increase as we move through. And so understanding that it really highlights the need — now is the time for this type of study, before we kind of reach that point," Merriam said.
"We the team, and the Army Corps, understand that it is a priority, and we are expediting it as much as we can. To help the communities feel the support by the federal government, and help them feel like they’re moving forward with the resiliencies. So it does incorporate a lot of communities that have historically felt these flooding impacts.”
Public meetings on the topic will be held for the next four weeks, starting Friday, April 1. Details can be found at honolulu.gov/alawai/.
This interview aired on The Conversation on March 31, 2022. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
