{"id":1571,"date":"2026-06-19T08:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T08:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571"},"modified":"2026-06-19T08:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T08:35:08","slug":"state-finalizes-agreement-to-acquire-wahiawa-dam-and-irrigation-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571","title":{"rendered":"State finalizes agreement to acquire Wahiawa Dam and irrigation system"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<section>\n<p>WAHIAWA (HawaiiNewsNow) &#8211; The state Agribusiness Development Corporation has approved the transfer of the Wahiawa Dam and irrigation system from Dole Foods Hawaii to the state.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1569\">\u2018We felt hollow\u2019: Otake Camp flood survivors urge preparedness<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The deal for the state to acquire the dam has been years in the making. The process was accelerated by the kona low storms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s huge impacts,\u201d said state Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz (D-Wahiawa, Mililani, Whitmore Village). \u201cThere\u2019s impacts for the environment. There\u2019s impacts for public safety. There\u2019s impacts for agriculture. There\u2019s impacts for recreational use.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the wake of the March storms that prompted a dam failure warning and mass evacuations, Dole Foods is transferring the dam, as well as the irrigation system that stretches downstream to farmers from Mokuleia to Waimea Bay.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cA lot of the farmers on KS (Kamehameha Schools) land, a lot of the farmers on a lot of the Savio properties that he has &#8212; a lot of private landowners, they\u2019re all affected by the Wahiawa Dam and the irrigation system,\u201d said Dela Cruz.<\/p>\n<p>The cost to the state: zero.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was gifted to the State of Hawaii,\u201d said Dole Foods Hawaii spokesperson Kehaulani Watson. \u201cThe state paid nothing to Dole for this system. Dole will become, in fact, a customer of the state now. They will be paying the state for water like anybody else on the system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The dam and irrigation system will be administered by the Agribusiness Development Corporation. ADC Board Chair Jayson Watts said in a press release, \u201cBy taking ownership of this system, we are directly protecting public safety and securing a critical dedicated source of agricultural water that the entire island of Oahu depends upon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1567\">Maui Gold debuts new brand in celebration of pineapple week<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The public safety part is critical after the kona low storms that filled the Wahiawa Reservoir and caused destructive flooding in the downstream neighborhoods of Waialua and Haleiwa.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbsolutely with the kona lows, there was a need to hurry up and have some of this work done,\u201d said Watson. \u201cIt\u2019s underway, to the benefit of the state and the benefit of the public that relies on this system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The state has already begun the project to bring the dam into compliance with safety requirements, widening the spillway and strengthening its embankments. Crews will also improve the irrigation system for farmers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe improvements to the dam are going to cost over $75 million,\u201d said Dela Cruz. \u201cAll that money got passed this past (legislative) session. The governor created an emergency proclamation. The Department of Transportation is taking the lead in reconstructing the dam. So things are moving quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe state did their job,\u201d said Watson. \u201cThey did extensive due diligence. All the agencies did, to make sure this was something that was ultimately in the best interests of the state and the best interests of the public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1565\">Kaimana Beach fully reopens after monk seal pup relocated<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The upgrades to the dam are expected to be complete in about two years.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dole Foods Hawaii gifted the dam, which the state is already upgrading to improve safety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>State finalizes agreement to acquire Wahiawa Dam and irrigation system - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"State finalizes agreement to acquire Wahiawa Dam and irrigation system - Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dole Foods Hawaii gifted the dam, which the state is already upgrading to improve safety.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-19T08:35:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1571#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1571\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"headline\":\"State finalizes agreement to acquire Wahiawa Dam and irrigation system\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T08:35:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1571\"},\"wordCount\":522,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1571#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/78aab849283483fd1b4ae1d73545375a.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1571#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1571\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1571\",\"name\":\"State finalizes agreement to acquire Wahiawa Dam and irrigation system - Hawaii Moving Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1571#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1571#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/78aab849283483fd1b4ae1d73545375a.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T08:35:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1571#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1571\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1571#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/78aab849283483fd1b4ae1d73545375a.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/78aab849283483fd1b4ae1d73545375a.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1571#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"State finalizes agreement to acquire Wahiawa Dam and irrigation system\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hawaii Moving Insider\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"State finalizes agreement to acquire Wahiawa Dam and irrigation system - Hawaii Moving Insider","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"State finalizes agreement to acquire Wahiawa Dam and irrigation system - Hawaii Moving Insider","og_description":"Dole Foods Hawaii gifted the dam, which the state is already upgrading to improve safety.","og_url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571","og_site_name":"Hawaii Moving Insider","article_published_time":"2026-06-19T08:35:08+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0"},"headline":"State finalizes agreement to acquire Wahiawa Dam and irrigation system","datePublished":"2026-06-19T08:35:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571"},"wordCount":522,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/78aab849283483fd1b4ae1d73545375a.avif","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571","name":"State finalizes agreement to acquire Wahiawa Dam and irrigation system - Hawaii Moving Insider","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/78aab849283483fd1b4ae1d73545375a.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-19T08:35:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/78aab849283483fd1b4ae1d73545375a.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/78aab849283483fd1b4ae1d73545375a.avif","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1571#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"State finalizes agreement to acquire Wahiawa Dam and irrigation system"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/","name":"Hawaii Moving Insider","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com"],"url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}