Ancient Times In ancient times, Oahu's earliest inhabitants - the native Hawaiians - drew their water supplies from fresh water springs, Iakes, streams and shallow wells. Incredibly, a population that may have amounted to hundreds of thousands thrived on the island though wise management of their lands and water resources.
Strict kapu -laws- governing water resources were enforced. The kanawai -laws of water- eventually became a the law of the land. You could draw water from only the upper parts of the stream. Bathing was to be done downstream. Damaging irrigation systems or harming the water soure was severely punished. Water conservation was a preeminent law of the land. Living on this island surrounded by salt water, ancient Hawaiians learned the valui and preciousness of its lomited surface water sources.
1700s The Hawaiians' advances agricultural irrigation systems enabled the to turn vast areas into farm lands, freeding a thriving population over the centuries before westerners arrived. But after the arrival of western contact in the late 1700s, disease and recruitment by plantations drew Hawaiians away from their traditional taro system and led to the transfiguration of these acreages into abandoned fields.
Present In 1987 The State Water Code was abopted by the Hawaii Legislature, which set in place various layers of protection for all waters in the Hawaiian Lslands. The State Commission on Water Resource Management -- also known as the Water Commission -- sets policies and approves water allocations for all water users, including the Honolulu Board of Water Supply. Although under the Code, primary responsibility for the protection of ground water resources was assigned to the State Department of Health, the Board of Water Supply continues over the island's basal aquifers.