Qualla: Ka Loko Reservoir

Ka Loko Reservoir: Introduction

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. On March 14, 2006, the earthen dam holding back Ka Loko Reservoir on Kauai's north shore gave way without warning. A wall of water and mud surged down the hillside, tearing through Waiakalua Stream toward the Pacific Ocean. Seven people died. The breach exposed a problem that had been building for decades: Hawaii had too many aging dams and too few inspectors to monitor them. The reservoir, which had served the island's sugar plantation era, became a case study in what happens when infrastructure outlives the industry that built it but not the communities that live below it.

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Image: CC BY-SA 3.0

Ka Loko Reservoir: A Plantation Relic

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. Ka Loko Reservoir sits on the north side of Kauai, an earthen impoundment that once served the agricultural needs of the island's sugar industry. Like dozens of similar dams across Hawaii, it was constructed during the plantation era when sugarcane required vast quantities of irr...

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Image: CC BY-SA 3.0

Ka Loko Reservoir: The Day the Dam Broke

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. The breach on March 14, 2006, released a torrent that carved a path of destruction through the landscape below the reservoir. Aerial photographs taken afterward showed highway damage where rushing floodwaters had torn across roads, ripped out vegetation, and deposited debris acro...

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Ka Loko Reservoir: Accountability and Aftermath

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. The legal proceedings following the Ka Loko disaster stretched on for years. Pflueger faced both criminal charges and multiple civil lawsuits from the families of those killed. On August 4, 2009, a settlement between the parties in all civil cases was reported, pending judicial r...

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Image: CC BY-SA 3.0

Ka Loko Reservoir: New Ownership, Old Questions

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. In December 2021, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg purchased 110 acres surrounding Ka Loko Reservoir, adding to his substantial land holdings on Kauai's north shore. Zuckerberg stated his intention to fulfill the legal requirements for the property, which include compliance with dam ...

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Image: CC BY-SA 3.0