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Hawaii is struggling with a drought. The groundwater is polluted and hotels need the little water for tourists. The water shortage has historical reasons.
Hawaii’s islands are actually among the wettest in the world. However, there is currently too little rain and the island needs to be supplied with groundwater. Despite rainwater, there are still no reserves of groundwater for times of crisis. This has historical reasons.
The problems began as early as 1776, explains Martin Dusinberre from the University of Zurich. He is a historian and focuses on water management, including in Hawaii. At that time, the British seafarer Captain James Cook docked his ships in Hawaii. When people from Europe and the USA came to Hawaii, there was a strong impact on the ecosystem. This is difficult to reverse today.
Legend:
“Hawaii is actually a very humid island,” says Martin Dusinberre. And yet the archipelago suffers from a lack of water.
Reuters/Terray Sylvester (Symbolic image/05/13/2028)
People from Europe and the USA grew sugar in large quantities. And sugar requires an enormous amount of water – almost 1000 kilos of water for half a kilo of sugar. For the sugar industry and the cultivation of pineapples, water on the island had begun to be consistently diverted from the wet part of the island to the dry part. There was too little water left for the indigenous people to realize their own agricultural projects. The problem still exists today.
Tourism and the US military are complicit
Another water-intensive project was and is tourism, explains the historian. For example, there is a hotel on Maui that uses 2 million liters of water a day. That’s the same amount as 1,400 households on the island would consume. And according to Dusinberre, that is disproportionate.
And it gets even more complicated: What little groundwater there is is also contaminated on a large scale. This is primarily the fault of the US military, which operates important bases in Hawaii.
Legend:
Little water that has been unfairly distributed for decades and contaminated water: the situation for the residents of Hawaii is difficult.
Keystone/AP/JENNIFER KELLEHER (04/29/2024)
Despite the difficult situation for the residents of Hawaii, there are bright spots. Individual agricultural projects are trying to restore the ecosystem. This is elementary for Hawaii, because the island is massively dependent on the mainland. The island cannot import as much water as Hawaii needs. Hawaii has to do it alone to distribute water more fairly. The Pacific islands must ensure that tourism does not swallow up everything and that the military no longer contaminates the soil.
Economically, Hawaii is currently still heavily dependent on tourism and the military. Today, however, the imbalance is too great at the expense of the residents, who lack water for their daily needs.
Legend:
The Dietz family dog, Rocket, also developed various health problems after drinking contaminated water.
Keystone/AP/MENGSHIN LIN (04/22/2024)
Attempted water can lead to health problems. One affected family is the Dietz family of four in Honolulu. They spend more than $120 a month on bottled water for drinking, cooking and cleaning, as well as shower and sink filters. This vigilance is necessary to avoid vomiting, diarrhea, skin rashes and other complaints.
Richelle Dietz, her husband, a US Navy petty officer, and their two children say they have been suffering from health problems since 2021. At that time, kerosene leaked into the Navy’s water system, which supplies 93,000 people on and around the Pearl Harbor base.
Thousands of people in military housing became ill, including her own family, Dietz says. She is one of 17 relatives of U.S. military personnel suing the United States over leaks from World War II-era storage containers. (AP)