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Unbeknownst to many, a natural wetland ecosystem still exists in an undeveloped area of Kapi'olani Park. This area is within the district of Kaneloa in the Waikiki ahupua'a. It served as a natural drainage area for runoff from the slopes of Diamond Head. The site covers nearly two acres comprised of wetland, transitional and dryland contours enclosed between the park's filled soccer fields and the Royal Hawaiian Band Headquarters within the Waikiki Shell complex. This sheltered ecosystem continues to be fed by a brackish water table only inches from the surface. Domestic runoff from the surrounding parkland and residential area, and drainage from the slopes of Diamond Head during high rainfall also flows into this ara. There are three species of native Hawaiian wetland plants, bacopa mannieri (water hyssop), bolboschoenus meritimus (Hawaiian sedge), and sasurium portulacastrum (`akulikuli) growing abundantly in this protected area. When ponding occurs, o'opu (gobies) can be observed swimming in schools as they navigate upstream from subterranean culverts and salt water channels. |
Birds within the park's habitat attracted by the water's reflection, including the endangered fairey tern, also gather and fly down from overhanging branches. As memorialized in the Hawaiian phrase, "Ka Wai `Ola `O Kane", this is a place of "the life giving waters of Kane." In 1998, the Ala Wai Canal Watershed Improvement Project received a congressional grant funded through the national Environmental Protection Agency for studies and subsequent sustainable protection of the Ala Wai Watershed area. The ahupua'a project area is bounded by Punchbowl and Diamond Head craters and extends from the ridges of the Koolaus to the reefline of Mamala Bay. The Kaneloa wetland restoration project was one of seven projects to receive a portion of this grant administered by the State Department of Health. A Memorandum of Agreement was signed in August 1998 between the State Department of Health's Clean Water Branch and the Kapiolani Park Advisory Council and work began on the first phase of the restoration project. The area was cleared of debris and trash, and the invasive pluchea shrubs, which had nearly covered the site with the exception of the lower brackish contour, were removed by teams of volunteers and ground for mulch by the City's Department of Parks and Recreation beautification division.
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