Recently, my Scout Troop traveled to West Maui for summer camp at Maluhia. As an adjunct to our summer camp experiences, we researched the historical background of irrigation ditches, tunnels, and flumes used in the Sugar industry around the turn of the century, and on up into present day. We then toured one of these systems, the system known variably as Spreckel’s ditch or the Waihee ditch, which historically provided irrigation water to the Wailuku Sugar company at the beginning of the 20th century. As part of our summer adventure to one of our neighbor islands, we sought to qualify the participating members of our troop for the Historic trails award.
The success of the Hawaii sugar industry for most of the 20th century was mostly dependant upon access to irrigation water, and the delivery of this water was made possible through a complex system of irrigation channels, ditches, tunnels, flumes and siphons, many still in use today. The building and labor on these vital systems was provided by a culturally rich mixture of immigrant labor from China, Japan, Portugal and beyond. 100 years into the period of Hawaiian history following Captain James Cook in 1778, sugar was the greatest force at work in Hawaii, and water was the basis of this crop. “Wai,” part of the name of the islands, stands or water—water is the key ingredient to the other natural resources required to grow sugar cane: land and sun. “Wai” has a connotation of wealth and life. While many of the ditch laborers were Keiki o ka ‘aina, children born of the land, a great many of those who labored on the irrigation systems were immigrant laborers, drawn to Hawaii for the prospect of work, and became part of the cultural heritage of the islands. The efforts of those laborers still remain in usage on most of the Hawaiian islands, though the sugar industry no longer holds the level of importance as it did in the earlier part of the 20th century. In order to learn this history of the Sugar irrigation ditches, we found Sugar Water—Hawaii’s Plantation Ditches by Carol Wilcox, published in 1996 by the University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.
On the 19th of July, as part of the Maluhia summer camp outpost experience, members of our troop hiked to and camped on BSA properties adjacent to the Waihee ridge trail, overlooking the Waihee Valley and the Waihee River. Our camp was a true “leave no trace” camp where we hiked in with our limited gear and food, made trail tarps, and slept overnight in the low clouds, lulled to sleep by the wind in the Cook Pines overhead and the roar or the Waihee River below us in the valley, source of water for the Historic Waihee Ditch irrigation system. We packed out all our gear and any trash the following day, and members of our Troop hiked the trail alongside the Waihee Ditch system, known as the Waihee Valley Trail. The trail was well marked and maintained, and we made significant improvements by picking up litter alongside the trail system, and packing this out to trash dumpsters at the foot of the valley. We also moved any timbers and limbs off the trail. The historic nature of this irrigation system was discussed with other Troops and staff attending summer camp at Camp Maulhia during the week of 15-21 July, 2001. Please view attached photographs documenting our experience, and the advancement application for the Adults and Scouts on this Historic adventure.
Paul Freeman, Eagle Scout
Ben Crocker, Life Scout
Ian Freeman, SM Troop 304
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