Introduction 3.
Over 80 years ago, Hi‘ilawe Stream, like many others in Hawai‘i, was diverted to be used for irrigation, or watering, of sugar cane plantations. That means that a concrete barrier was built to stop the water from flowing straight down its natural course into Waipi‘o Valley and instead flow to the side into miles of sugar cane fields. While the water was useful for growing sugar cane, the natural ecosystem and communities that depended on that stream were changed and not for the better. The concrete barrier, or "diversion", had been built at 2000 ft. elevation, high above the valley. With the reduction of water, there were no longer two waterfalls at Hi‘ilawe, but only one. Not only was there less water flowing, but it flowed slower and was warmer which affected the plants and animals that live in the stream.
Now that sugar cane is no longer commercially grown in that area, it was decided to remove the diversion and restore the stream to a natural and free-flowing river. The Lalakea stream restoration, a historic event, took place in July 2004.