ABSTRACT
Water supply has been a dominating feature in the evolution of the Hawaii economy since the first settlement of the islands more than a millennium ago. The early Hawaiians refied on water from streams, springs, and shallow excavations to irrigate crops, taro in particular. Water use was regulated by the Hawaiian chiefs and their land managers according to strict rules. The source and delivery systems were so well designed that they served the expanding economy for a century after the opening of the archipelago to the western world by Captain James Cook in 1778.
