City and state crews were working along the Woodlawn Drive Bridge in Mānoa, an area known for flooding, before both Hurricane Lala and Hurricane Lowell hit the islands.
Oʻahu residents can recall the 2004 Mānoa Valley Flood that took place on Halloween night and wiped out the University of Hawaiʻi campus, causing millions in damages.
Work is now underway in the Mānoa, Pālolo and Makiki streams to clear debris, made possible by an emergency fund of $9 million.
Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation Director Ed Sniffen spoke with HPR to explain how, using department expertise, crews are working in areas upstream that aren’t normally under their jurisdiction.
“So what we decided … is we got to help everybody start from zero. If we can clear those streams and make sure that it's safe for now, so that if there's another storm that comes through, we don't have to worry about the flooding situation, it's good for everybody,” Sniffen said.
Through a collaboration between the DOT, the city of Honolulu and the Department of Land and Natural Resources, they’ve been able to make progress clearing debris across Oʻahu’s streams, regardless of jurisdiction.
“And this is the fun thing for our department with the DOT. We have the resources and the know-how to do these types of things,” Sniffen said.
“We have no jurisdiction in the streams, but we work with DLNR and City and everybody else to make sure that we get the approval to make sure we can move forward.”
Sniffen's hope is that the collaboration proves to be an effective preventative measure to protect Oʻahu from further flooding.
“We are all working together. The state legislature, the governor's office, the agencies, the city and the counties, and the state are all working together to resolve this issue,” he told HPR.
“We're not just taking care of the symptom by cleaning up the Ala Wai. We're making sure we take care of the causes by clearing up all the streams that feed it.”
This story aired on The Conversation on Sept. 14, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
