Water has always been a challenge in Kaupo. The district lies in the rain shadow of Haleakala, with no permanent streams in the lower, habitable zone.
Because of this, springs served as the main source of water until water systems were installed in the early 1900s. Over a dozen springs dotted the Kaupo landscape. In addition to supplying essential water, these springs were also a source of history and legends.
Many today may be unaware of the many springs in Kaupo. Here is list of springs in Kaupo, ordered roughly from west to east (the final four located in Haleakala Crater), followed by a description of each spring.
- Anaula
- Waiemi
- Piliokane
- Waiu
- Waipu
- Opakalua
- Kamapuna
- Paanene
- Punahoa
- Kawaihu
- Palaoa
- Waikane
- Laie
- Paliku
Anaula
Anaula is a shore area between Huakini and Nuu bays. In September 1889, when the trio of J. C. Flores, M. J. Faria and T. K. Clarke won a 10-year lease for 1,500 acres in the area for ranching, springs located at Anaula were seen as a valuable water source for their activities. The partners installed a water-pumping windmill, a cistern and troughs. (See this page for more about the Portuguese rancher John C. Flores.)
Unfortunately, a tidal event in June 1891 destroyed a number of springs in the Nuu area, including those at Anaula. Nuu resident William Kalaowali described the event in an article in the Hawaiian-language newspaper Ka Leo o ka Lahui:
Paa pu ka ai ahuahu o na punawai ma Anaula, malaila kahi i ku ai o ka huila mai a J. C. Flores ma, i keia wa ua lilo he muliwai kai, a pakele mai lilo na kulawai i ke kai, i ole ka nui makaala o na kanaka ia po.
[The vigorous plants at the springs at Anaula were covered. That is where the wheel of J. C. Flores & Co. stood. At this time the sea became like a river, and the water troughs would have been taken to sea if not for the quick action of the people that night.]
However, Anaula may not have disappeared for good after the 1891 tidal event. Sam Kaai, who grew up in Kaupo in the 1940s, recalled a spring on the western side of Nuu Bay in the Anaula area, as well as the caves that likely gave the area its name ("ana" means cave in Hawaiian):
"We used to bathe there. That's the drinking water. The pond is on one side of Nuu beach. On the other side get one stone wall. Right by that stone wall inside there, where all the sand is now, used to have one pond that delivered about a gallon and a quarter an hour. Behind there, get several spirit caves."
Waiemi
In the same 1891 article mentioned above, William Kalaowali noted that another spring, named Waiemi, was covered by the waves and no trace of the spring remained. The location of Waiemi is currently unknown.
Piliokane
Piliokane was the only spring remaining in the Nuu area after the 1891 storm. Kalaowali described Piliokane in poetic terms in the close of his article:
I ka hao a ke kai koo, aohe wai e loaa koke iho, a koe no ka punawai a kou mea kakau nei, oia o Piliokane, ka wai hu’i, wai ono a ka lehua, wai hou i ka ili o ka ipo ahi.
[Because of the strong seas, there is no water nearby except for Piliokane, the spring of your correspondent, with its cold, delicious water like lehua flowers, water that tingles the skin like an ardent lover.]
In the current day, a rock-lined spring flows directly into Pupuka salt pond at Nuu Bay. Since this is the only spring remaining in the area, it is assumed to be Piliokane Spring.
Waiu
Like the spring from 1894 mentioned above, Waiu spring also emerges from Puu Maneoneo (Itchy Hill).
Just east of Nuu is Waiu, a grassy area nestled between Puu Maneoneo and the sea, and home to perhaps the most storied spring in Kaupo.
As early as 1867, historian Samuel Kamakau noted the tradition that Waiu spring was created by the gods Kane and Kanaloa.
Similarly, in 1922, Bishop Museum researcher Thomas Maunupau visited Kaupo and recorded this account from Kaupo residents:
I ka hiki ana o keia mau akua i Nuu, ua hele laua ma kahakai ahiki i ke awapae i ke komohana aku o Nuu, a i ke kumu pali, hou laua i keia kumu pali me ka laau a puka mai ka wai, a eia no ke kahe nei keia wai a hiki i keia la. Ma kekahi moolelo hoi, mauka ae ka laua hele ana a loaa kekahi kamaaina o Waiu ka inoa, a no ka nele o keia kamaaina i ka wai ua hou iho laua i ka laau iloko o ka honua me keia wahi, a puka ka wai i kai, a kapaia keia wai ka wai a Waiu ahiki no i keia la. O Ku ame Hina na inoa o keia mau akua i hele mai ai i kekahi oleloia.
[When these gods arrived at Nuu, they traveled along the shore until arriving at the landing west of Nuu.1 They poked at the base of the cliff with a stick, and water emerged. Here the water flows even to this day. In another story, they went upland and encountered a native named Waiu. Since this person lacked water, they thrust a stick into the ground at this place, and water flowed toward the sea. This is the water called Waiu to this day. In some accounts, it is the gods named Ku and Hina who made this journey.]
Maunupau went on to describe the spring itself:
Ua kokoke loa i ka aekai i ke kumupali. Ua hoomoeia he wahi paipu liilii, mai ke kumupali mai ahiki iloko o ka holowaa mai no ka bipi ame na holohona he kanalima paha kapuai ka mamao. I ko makou hiki ana i keia holowaa wai ua lele iho ka meakakau ame Keneki, a inu iho la i ka wai hu’ihu’i kaulana a Waiu. Ua olelo mai ko maua hoa maiuka mai keia wa malalo o ka honua. Aole kau e maloo ai o keia wai ahiki no i keia la.
[It is at the base of the cliff near the shore. A small pipe has been installed running from the base of the cliff to a trough about 50 feet away for cattle and other animals. When we arrived at the trough, the writer and Kenneth Emory dismounted and drank the cool, famed water of Waiu. Our friend2 said that the water comes from upland under the ground. At no time has the water ever dried up, even up to the current day.]
After the destruction of the springs at Nuu in 1891, Kalaowali, the writer of the article, noted that Waiu Spring became a crucial water source for Nuu residents:
Iloko o keia mau la e ike ia aku ana na kane a me na wahine e hoolewa ana me na pu-a holoholona lio a me bipi, no ka hooinu ana i ka wai o Waiu.
[These days, men and women can be seen leading herds of horses and cows to drink from the water at Waiu.]
There are a number of traditions regarding the source of the Waiu's water.
In 1894, storyteller Moses Manu wrote an account of the legend of Laukaieie, which includes a digression into springs around the Hawaiian islands. Manu writes that an underground channel above a place called Kuaihulumoa is the upland source of Waiu Spring. Unfortunately, the location of Kuaihulumoa has been lost to time.
Alternately, historian Samuel Kamakau wrote in 1870 that some place the source of Waiu Spring as Kaaawa, a pit for human burials inside Haleakala Crater. According to Kamakau, this was why the water at Waiu had an unpleasant taste.
Occassionally, short-lived springs would appear in the area. An example is a new spring near Waiu reported in an article from April 1894:
Ua hu ae ma Puumaneoneo, Kaupo, Maui, he waipuna kupanaha he 100 a oi kapuai maluna ae o ka iliwai. Ua olelo ae na kamaaina he mea hou loa keia i ikeia, aole mai kahiko mai.
[An amazing spring has emerged at Puu Maneoneo, Kaupo, Maui, 100 feet or more above sea level. The locals say this is completely new and was not there in olden times.]
Waipu
A prominent feature in Kaupo is Kalaeokailio, a point jutting out into the sea at the east end of Mamalu Bay. Just where Kalaeokailio starts extending in the sea is an area called Waipu. A spring at Waipu was traditionally linked with Waiu Spring.
Moses Manu, in his retelling of Laukaieie in 1894, noted that the same water source that feeds Waiu then branches off to Waipu. Samuel Kamakau also reported that Waiu and Waipu have the same source (Kaaawa pit in Haleakala).
Opakalua
Opakalua, a gulch in the uplands of central Kaupo, contained a spring that likely served nearby Maua village in ancient times.
Opakalua Spring was not consistent like Waiu and would dry up periodically. When it did, there was a ritual to restart the flow of water. The community would wait until someone had a dream of two men (likely representing the gods Kane and Kanaloa). They would then go up to the spring to pray and provide an offering of burned bamboo, which would start the spring flowing again.
In the early 1900s, bamboo pipes brought water from the spring to those living in Kahualau Valley below. At one point, Romao Drummond, a county official who owned land near the spring, took bags of cement up to the spring to create a catchment pond. However, the spring soon dried up for good, and the hardened cement, still in the shape of the disentegrated bags, sits at the entrace of the spring to this day.
Kamapuna
Kamapuna Springs are a pair of springs on the western wall of upper Manawainui Valley. The springs are depicted on historical Kaupo maps and U.S. Geological Survey maps.
When water systems were installed, the Kamapuna Springs became the primary collection site for the central Kaupo area, with an intake from the springs depicted on an 1894 map.
In 1910, the county installed pipes running from Kamapuna Springs to a water tank at the Kaupo schoolhouse property, as described in an article in the Maui News:
"The County Engineer’s department recently laid a pipe line for bringing pure water from the Manawainui springs down to the settlement at Kaupo. Over one mile of one inch pipes were laid, and some of it had to be carried along the steep sides of an almost in accessible pali. Abel Roger was sent over from Wailuku to do the plumbing work and putting up the wooden tank at the end of the line at the new proposed school house site. The supply of pure mountain water with a daily flow of 3000 gallons is a godsend to residents of lower or dry Kaupo. Both kamaaina and travellers will greatly appreciate the refreshing improvement."
In 1927, County Engineer Paul Low examined the springs and reported on their output. A Maui News article on July 9 of that year described his findings:
“We journeyed up the Manawainui gulch to the foot of the Kamapuna Falls, which have their source at the Kamapuna Springs some four or five hundred feet above on the precipitous side of Manawainui Gulch. Water was plentiful here both at the springs and down the stream. There was possibly a combined flow from the springs and stream of some 400,000 gallons, the greater portion being from the springs. Kamaainas state that these springs do not go dry, and all evidences appear to bear out that fact.”
Punahoa
Punahoa is one of the most celebrated springs in Kaupo, in large part due to its location near Mokulau, a power center for Maui chiefs in the 1700s.
Punahoa seeps from the smooth, water-worn rocks immediately at the shoreline. Locals would dig a hole in the rocks to collect the fresh water, as described by Daniel Kawaiʻaeʻa, who grew up near Punahoa in the 1930s:
"We used to bottle all the water and haul 'um home on the donkey or horse. Sometimes we gotta make two or three trips for haul all the water home for cooking. Spring water…you gotta dig out where the spring water oozes out and then make one pond. Hemo all the rocks, and the water keep coming… coming out of the bottom…and the water is clean…that’s our drinking water. Yeah, hemo all the rocks, make one big pond like…uh…four feet wide, so you can go inside ʻauʻau too. All running water. When it’s low tide, the water is running fast, but ice cold that water. We haul water home too sometimes for ʻauʻau."
In the mid-1900s, Kaupo Ranch built a cistern around the spring. The water was pumped from Punahoa to a water tank 1,000 feet upslope near the Kaupo Ranch headquarters. Although Kawaiʻaeʻa considered the spring water clean, the salinity is actually quite high, so Kaupo Ranch only pumped water from Punahoa during the dry summer months.
Culturally, Punahoa Spring features in the story of Pamano, a legend recounted again and again in Hawaiian-language newspapers in 1862, 1884, 1917 and 1930. Thomas Maunupau, the Bishop Museum researcher who explored Kaupo in 1922, wrote about Punahoa and Pamano:
Kamailio mai la o Joseph Marciel, i kekahi mau wahi pana kaulana o Kaupo, kuhikuhi mai la oia i kahi o Pamano i noho ai … a i kahi ana e heenalu mai ai, mai ke kaiuli mai, a komoia mai iwaena o na moku ako’ako’a a pae loa iuka o Kapunahoa, i kahi wai e auau ai ilaila.
[Joseph Marciel discussed some of Kaupo's famous places, pointing out where Pamano lived … and where he surfed, from out in the deep water and through the coral islets to land at Kapunahoa to bathe.]
In the 1800s and 1900s, Hawaiian obituary writers often honored the places that the deceased had visited. Punahoa Spring featured in a number of these obituaries for Kaupo residents, highlighting the importance of the spring.
In October 1862, a woman named Keanaina, on the death of her sister Poliokeawe, wrote, "Kuu hoa mai ka wai halana i ke kai o Punahoa". [My companion where the water flows into the sea at Punahoa.]
Similarly, widow Kahinu Kahele in August 1881 wrote about the death of her husband Hosea: "Kuu kane mai ka wai huihui o Punahoa, mai ke kai nehe i ka iliili o Mokulau". [My dear husband of Punahoa’s chilly water, where the sea rustles the pebbles at Mokulau.]
Some writers would address the place directly, as if it was a person. In a eulogy for Keamalu Pihana in September 1931, her husband Peter addressed Punahoa directly: "Aloha no hoi na amokumoku o Mokolau i ka alaalo mai i ka ehu a ke kai aole kuu aloha e maalo hou aku ana i-o oukou ala ua hala no ka wa mau loa, aloha wale. Aloha no kahi wai nahunahu pu o Punahoa, kahi wai a na kupa o ka aina ame na malihini e luakaha ai." [Aloha, sea rocks of Mokulau, buffeted by the ocean spray. My beloved will not cross your path again. She is gone forever. Aloha, nippy water of Punahoa, where locals and visitors would relax.]
Returning to the legend of Laukaieie by Moses Manu in 1894, the source of Punahoa’s spring was said to be located near the base of the waterfalls falls deep in Manawainui Valley:
Alu koke iho la oia a hiki pono malalo o ke kumu o ka pali a loaa aku la iaia ke kumu o ka wai malalo pono o ka puu o Ahulili a ua kahe mai kekahi mana wai uuku ahu ma Waikaia. … A he nui a lehulehu wale na mana wai liilii ma keia aina o Kaupo, a mai loko mai o ke kumu o keia wai, ka wai e hu ala ma ka Paala ma ke kahakai o Punahoa,
[He [Makanikeoe] went down quickly until he was at the base of the cliff. There he found the source of the water directly beneath the hill of Ahulili. A small stream flowed from Waikaia. … There are many small streams in this land of Kaupo, and from the source of this water it wells up at the smooth, water-worn rocks at the shore of Punahoa.]
Paanene
Little is known of Paanene Spring. The spring is depicted on U.S. Geological Survey maps as being in Maalo Gulch at an elevation of about 1,100 feet.
Kawaihu
Kawaihu Spring, located in upper Nuanualoa Gulch, is described in the same Maui News article from July 1927 mentioned in the Kamapuna Springs section above. About Kawaihu, County Engineer Paul Low wrote the following:
“On June 28th, Colville Robinson and I made a trip to the Kawaihu Spring and Kanahee Falls, both tributary to the Nuanualoa Stream under the guidance of J. N. Kanuha, Kamaaina. We found the muchly talked about Kawaihu Springs at an elevation of about 3000 feet and some two miles distant from the Kaupo School (air line distance). The flow of the springs was only 15,000 gallons at the time and considering the fact that we have had but a very short spell of dry weather this year, it is very possible that the yield of these springs in times of extreme drought might be almost [negligible]."
Palaoa
Palaoa Spring is located at the area called Kapalaoa, at the base of the southern rim of Haleakala near the Puu Maile cinder cone.
Often called Kapalaoa Spring, the spring is labeled "Wai o Palaoa" (i.e., Palaoa Spring) on various maps from the 1800s.
According to Ted Rodrigues, a longtime Haleakala park ranger, the Kapalaoa area also went by Kapala‘ao, with name for the spring being Waipala‘ao:
“An older man—I don't remember his first name, his last name was Duvauschelle; he's an old Hawaiian, Duvauschelle, well known on the island of Moloka‘i. … I met him at Kapalaoa/Kapala‘ao one day and he told me, ‘Teddy this is not Kapalaʻao, this is Waipala‘ao. It is Waipala‘ao for the spring that exists there, and that is the spring that feeds the cabin, that's the name of the place.’”
Archaeologist Kenneth Emory noted Palaoa Spring in his report of a 1920 survey of the crater:
"At the foot of Puu Maile and opposite the spring, Kapalaoa, I counted over 50 stone shelters in clusters of 3 to 10, and found pebbles lying on the sand about Kahuinaokeone, but none among the Kapalaoa shelters."
In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps built a cabin nearby supported with water from the spring. As described in a 2009 report historical sites in the park: "Water for Kapalaoa Cabin is collected from a roof catchment and a surface water spring in the nearby cliff face (i.e., Kapalaoa Spring) and stored in tanks that were built by the CCC in 1937."
Waikane
Waikane Spring is depicted on the U.S. Geological Survey map of Haleakala from 1924 as well as brochures for Haleakala National Park from the 1930s. The Civilian Conservation Corps built a wooden tank in the 1930s to store water from the spring. According to a 1998 botanical report, the area around the spring is home to a number of rare plants.
Laie
The Laie area of Haleakala Crater was a popular camping area for Kaupo residents in the early 1900s, with a cave for shelter and a spring. When Bishop Museum researcher Thomas Maunupau visited Kaupo in 1922, he also toured Haleakala Crater and saw Laie Spring, about which he wrote:
He nihinihi no ke kii ana o ka wai, he mania ka pohaku i ke kahe mau ia e ka wai, a ma keia wahi oe e pii ai ahiki aku iluna o ka poho ki’owai. Ua piha pono ua wahi pohowai nei, e lawa pono ai makou, a hoi hou i kai o Kaupo. O ka mea mua a ka meakakau i hana ai i ko’u hiki ana ma keia pohowai, o ia no ko’u inu ana i ka wai hu’ihui’i o Haleakala nei.
[It was a steep trek to get the water. The stones were worn smooth by the constant flow of water. This is where you have to ascend to get to the pool. The pool was full, providing enough water for us, and the water ran down seaward toward Kaupo. The first thing the writer did when arriving at this pool was to drink the cool water of Haleakala.]
The flow from Laie was particularly abundant, creating a pond large enough for bathing. Maunupau braved the cold water to clean off after hunting:
Haalele iho la ia nei nouka aku o kahi ki'owai, no ka auau ana. Hiki iluna olaila, hoomaka ke ka mai i ka wai ilalo iki mai o ka poho no ka auau ana. I ka hemo ana ae no o kahi lole, ua lia e ka ili i kau a mea o ke anu hu'ihu'i o ke ea kuahiwi, aka, nana ae hoi o ka hohono koko kao, hoomanawanui wale iho la no e auau i ka wai hoeha ili hu'i anu o ke kuahiwi Haleakala.
[I left to go up to a pond to bathe. When I got there, I splashed some of the water out of the basin in order to bathe. When I took off my clothes, the frigid mountain air chilled my skin. But because of the stench of goat blood, I endured this bath in the painfully cold water of Haleakala mountain.]
Paliku
The final spring in the Kaupo region of Haleakala is at Paliku, at the east wall of Haleakala Crater. Like Kapalaoa, Paliku was chosen as a cabin site in the 1930s because of the nearby water source.
- East of Nuu, actually.
- Kaupo resident Joseph Marciel.