Too whom it may concern, The clean up scheduled on April, 29 2017 was canceled due to the river being deemed unsafe as the water levels rise, as a result of April 28th rain.
During that Friday, WHS-Mauka2Makai's students and teachers took out a small section of the silt island and setup tents for the next community work day. The next scheduled work day is to be announced. Stay updated on our events by following us on Instagram! @WHSMauka2Makai
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On the 6th of March 2016, WHS Students traveled from Waimea Valley Clubhouse to the Menehune Bridge. They began by gathering at the clubhouse, then shortly as all participating students arrived they were off. Walking along the river bank, there were ditches or some sort of drain that lead to the river, upon further inspection there was a smell of soap/cleaner and bubbles coming from the drain. The water was a steady flow. One of the instructors said that the drains were used in the valley since big rains caused the valley to flood, the drains would let the water escape back in to the river.
On the 13th of February, instead of fishing; WHS students walked up the Historical Waimea Valley to learn about the history of Waimea River. At one point, the river was more than 10 feet deep. People were able to jump from the road and the swinging bridge into the water without touching the bottom. Now if you were to jump into the water you would probably end up breaking your knees. The reason why the water level is low is because 110 million gallons of water is diverted to Mana/Kekaha's old irrigation ditches because of the plantation era.
According to my father, Kent Kinoshita, The Waimea Clubhouse, in the 50's though the 60's there were boat rides going up and down the river. The clubhouse was originally two stories high and was a club where gambling, parties and other events took place, the clubhouse was also a local hangout for the members of the club and the community. Sometimes, the club and their affiliate went on excursions to Kokee, even bringing equipment with them to play baseball. Today, You can't bring a canoe up the river past the clubhouse due to the silt piling to create islands in the river, which then lets grass and trees to grow on those islands, making them solid so the river can't drive the silt out through the river mouth. On February 2, 2017, Yumi Yasutake of NOAA came to educate a class of WHS students about the process of weighing, measuring and dissecting fish to identify reproductive organs for our research. It is important not to fish during spawning seasons to preserve fish for the next generation of fishermen.
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AuthorTrent Kinoshita Archives |