The Hawaiian gazette., 1910-08-12

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/ the months Of February and March.
1903, there was "A very heavy rainfall.
and more OF less rain fell every da !.
Tor period Of forty odd days, the total
rainfall for the two months being 3l.55
inches. AZ the close Of this rainy
period accurate measurements were
taken of the level of the water in the
artesian wells, and IL was found to
stand thirty.one feet seven and one
half inches above sea level, or one and
one.half inches higher than it stood in
the first well drilled in May, 1890.
Ny opinion is that if we could have
an old-fashioned wet winter, the level
of the water in the artesian wells Of
the Eva basin would speedily come up
to nOrmal.''
In connection with the above state.
ment, Mr.. Tenneys address before the
Legislature in 1909, in reference to the
proposed conservation and immigration
bill is of particular interest. Mr.. Ten
ney said in part:
THE Island of Oahu contains GOO
square miles, 1000 acres. The area
of cane land under cultivation on this
island was 1880 acres The daily
pumping capacity of the pumping sta.
lions of the plantations on this island
drawing their supplies from artesian
wells, is S51, 25O,0O gallons. The daily
pumping capacity of the Honolulu Wa
ter Works, for instance, is 11,25O,0O0
gallons The combined daily pumping
capacity of the Hawaiian Electric,
Rapid Transit, Honolulu Brewery,
Young Hotel, Honolulu Iron Works. GA.
hu Railway and Land Company, and the
Pacific Fertilizer and Guano Works. I
understand, amounts to 100000 gal
Ions; while rice plantations and diaries.
individuals, etc., have a daily uampino
capacity of about 50,OO0,O 900 gallons
more; hence the plantations, the Homo.
lulu Water Works, the various com.
panies have referred to and the rice
plantations, dairies and individuals al
together have daily pumping capacity
of about 416,500,00O gallons.
Enormous Demand.
Z" From the best information 1 was
able to obtain from Mr. McCandless and
several other people around the island,
lit is considered an ultra conservative
estimate that the water used by rice
plantations, diaries, individuals and 9th
er small agricultural industries from ar
tesian wells amounts to 50,000,0OO gal
Ions day, as above set forth. This
reaches total draft on the artesian
system of this island of 416,50O,OO0 gal
Ions. This is equivalent TO yearly
supply of 152,O22,5OO, 900 gallons, or we
will say in round numbers 15O0OO,0O0,-
900, equivalent to 20,OOOO0O,OO0 cubic
feet of water, or in acre feet, that is,
acres of land covered one foot deep in
water, of 1913 acres. This quantity
of water as equivalent to IL feet in
depth of water distributed over every
square foot of land on this island. To
ldeliver the 416,500,000 gallons used
daily from the artesian system of these
4, Islands would require a ditch 40 feet
wide and feet deep, flowing at speed
of $50 feet per minute That is quite
a good-sized river. The yearly supply
would fill lake three miles wide, TWEEN
ty miles long and ten feet deep. Quite
a nice little pond of water.
ALI Depends on Artesian Systems
"The rainfall. in Honolulu for the
past twenty four years, 1885 to 1908 in
elusive, average 29.2S inches per an
nun. Now, the question is where does
the artesian water supply come in. Here
they are drawing equivalent of one.half
of the average rainfall in Honolulu.
From the best information that we can
get the artesian system is replenished
by the rainfall on the higher levels of
the island, in the forest we will say,
where it is retained; but a good per-
centage percolates through and finally
reaches its way into the artesian sys-
TEN. The probabilities are that the
area wherein this percolatiOn takes
place, where the water reaches the ar
tesian system, does not exceed if it
equals $50 square miles on this island.
That means, if it equals $50 square
miles, that five feet depth of water must
percolate through that entire area to
, reach our artesian water system in order
to replenish the draft made yearly.
'"This is an illustration of the neees-
sity of conserving the forest areas on
this island to conserve the water supply
and protect this artesian system, for
if it fails, what would happen? These
plantations raise their sugar by arte.
sian water. If that artesian system
failed; they would fail That would
mean a curtailment of revenue for the
government as well as revenue for all
of the shareholders and loss of their in.
vestment."
Can Not Prevent Waste
E. N. Scoville, head pump engineer
of the Oahu plantation, is inclined to
ridicule the idea of conserving the arte.
sian water by any system of well cap.
ping. Mr. Scoville is considered an
authority on Oahuan artesian water
Questions.
cit is foolish to talk of Gaping wells
to save the water from wasting,'' he
said yesterday. "Why, between here
and the Oahu plantation there are mill
lions and millions of gallons flowing
to waste from springs. The flowing
springs between here and the planta.
tions waste more water into the sea
than all the pumps in the Island are
pumping. If any attempt is to be made
by the government to conserve the arte-
sian waters the first thing to be done
would be to build dam on bedrock
4. Kah hui nd