Rain Rain everywhere and not a drop to drink.

It's amazing how hard it can rain and even for a few days at a time and yet we are in a declared drought restriction. I was speaking to a friend Mr. Stephen Cabral Sr. yesterday in Haiku. He is the former manager of the EMI East Maui Irragation Water Shed System. He was pointing out that he can drive by many streams going towards Hana, which he can also name individually, and the streams will be flowing full speed to the ocean. Upon his return in a few hours, he finds the same streams only trickling along. His feeling is that the water shed is dying and not being maintained. That water is not controlled so as to keep it in the mountain to allow it to saturate and fill the aquifer. One of his pet peeves is the encroachment of the African Tulip trees. I know 30 years ago in Haiku there were very few of these trees growing around my home in Haiku. Today they spread out from Haiku to Hana. Their seeds carry wide and far. They have also become a popular tree to plant and can be found lining the streets in the upscale subdivisions on Haiku Hill. These trees are invasive and crowd out the more native plants. Between Micronia and some others he named, we are loosing the battle against these plants. The Australian Fern (Hapuu) was being grown on Alii Chang's former Nahiku land Alii Gardens, not owned by Olivia Harrison, George's widow. the Australian fern literally took over the Alii Gardens and continues to spread on it's own. Mr Cabral enlists his grandkids to help him rid his yard in Kailua from them, where he grows true Hawaiian Hapuu Ferns. One look at Haiku and it is apparent that the ornamental trees that do look nice, but can have devastating effects on the make up of the plants on Maui, have proliferated. It's nice for these estates to be all spiffed out with these plants, but they do tend to spread on their own and literally change the landscape of our forest. Stephen points out how he used to gather Maile for leis along Hana Highway and now has to go as high as 4000 feet into the mountain just to find Maile now. We live on an island in a closed environment. Everything that takes place and grows on Maui can have it's good or bad effect on the native flora and fauna. Please Maui take awareness, for even the Maui I grew up in over 30 years has changed so drastically that my grandkids won't see the things I saw. Stephen points out that in his 8 years since retiring from EMI the forest have grown into a variety of plants that weren't there 8 years ago. Malama the Aina! Please bring forth all your concerned voices so that with all the rain we do get we can have a forest and water shed that holds the water, because then and only then will we and our children find that full drink of water and not a regulated 10% cut back on our glass. One of my Concerned Voices.....