Tag Archives: Water

Water, Water Everywhere

September 9, 2013 Richard Ha

Richard Ha writes:

We have so much water flowing to our new hydroelectric system. On average, more than two billion gallons of rain falls out of the sky and onto our farm each year.

We have one area with four acres of overgrown cane so thick you cannot touch the ground unless you hack your way through. The plantations put in a culvert there, at the lowest part of that field, and periodically a significant amount of water flows there.

There is the sound of rushing water coming from somewhere in this patch of cane. This happens every time it rains upslope.

There’s no water flowing at the top of that field, where we have bananas planted. The water is coming from somewhere within that overgrown cane, and we notice that the more rain we have upslope, the louder the sound of the water.

But I just hacked my way 20 feet into that top part of the parcel and I heard the sound of water there, too. I’ll find out what that is in a few days.

I wonder what that looks like? What can we use this land for?

I plan to plant bamboo to line the south side of the water source, which will throw a shadow on the stream and help us access the water.

Aquaponics, Bananas, Hamakua Coast, Hydroponics, Lettuce, Peak Oil, Sustainability, Taro/Poi, Water, Where We Live

Conversations With My Mom

June 11, 2012 Richard Ha 4 Comments

Richard Ha writes:

I took Mom to Hamakua Springs to get a few tilapia for her dinner.

While we were there, we looked at some of the things we have going on.

Corn

Hamakua Springs bananas

Hydroponic lettuce, with special procedures to control slugs

Sweet potatoes

Zucchini

One thing that strikes me is how much water we have running through our 600-acre farm. We must maximize its usage.

Water Supply will build a new reservoir adjacent to this one and bring electricity right through the farm to the new well, which is right behind this reservoir

I really want to raise tilapia when the price of oil goes so high that bringing it in from Asia is prohibitive.

Tilapia for Mom. These are the small ones, to fry crispy.

And, while doing that, we want to demonstrate how Hawaiians were self-sufficient in ancient days.

Then while we are at it, we want to reforest the streams with ‘ohi‘a, koa, bamboo, kukui, hapu‘u, etc.

Also, how about aquaponics with tilapia and taro?
How about a certified kitchen to make lomi salmon, poi and other things where we and other farmers can add value?
What about classes for at-risk students?
Maybe a permanent imu.
Events set around food?
How about showing how food was produced then and now – ancient and modern?

Mom and I always have these kinds of conversations. I like it.

Water

Water, Water, Everywhere…

November 21, 2011 Richard Ha

How is it that, after drilling through fresh water and then through 9000 feet of salt water, they hit cold fresh water under pressure? That wasn’t supposed to happen.

Last year, Don Thomas gave a talk to the Keaukaha Community Association about this project I wrote about last time.

This is what it looks like when water under 160 pounds of pressure shoots up out of the ground.

New Info About Hawaii’s Water

November 18, 2011 Richard Ha

This morning I talked to Dr. Don Thomas for half an hour. He’s finding really fascinating stuff that turns upside-down the whole theory of how fresh water is stored under the island.

It looks like there is a 15-foot thick, impermeable, layer on the Hilo side that traps freshwater 9,000+ feet down.

This is what we thought the Hawaiian Islands water cycle looks like.

Clouds come in and pile up against the slopes, and then rain falls, percolating down and out toward the ocean. So when we drill, we expect to find a freshwater lens, with salt water beyond (lower than) the freshwater lens. Right? One would expect to find fresh water at roughly around sea level. Or maybe a little deeper.

What if you drilled past the freshwater lens into the salt water and found fresh water at a much deeper level – like 9000 feet? And what if it were cold, and more than 1000 years old and under 160 pounds per square foot pressure? That was what Don Thomas recently found at a well he was drilling by the Hilo airport.

What does this mean? Could it be the same on the Kona side? He thinks so.

Using magnetotelluric surveys — they detect radio waves in the earth, and, depending on the conductivity of the rocks, can give a hint at what is there (i.e., hot/cold rocks, salt/fresh water, or combinations thereof), and then he gets in there with his drill — he has found what looks like perched fresh water on the dry side of the island. And it was higher than expected. Hmmm!