Menehune Ditch
The mystery of Waimea’s Menehune Ditch On first glance, it doesn’t look like much, but this little waterway holds a fascinating secret. https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/the-mystery-of-waimeas-menehune-ditch/ Marks the remnant of an ancient water course named Kikiaola. Only a small ditch on the side of the road remains, about 50 feet long, in the town of Waimea, Kauai. The ditch channeled water from Waimea River to the taro patches in lower Waimea Valley. It was engineered in a way that’s not found anywhere else in Hawaii and it continues to puzzle archaeologists. The 120 neatly cut and smooth blocks of basalt stones are what’s unusual about it, and differs from typical Hawaiian rock wall constructions. Though only a small fraction of it is visible today, British navigator and explorer Capt. George Vancouver, during his visit in 1793, described the aqueduct as being 24 feet high with the top of the wall used as a pathway. In 1924, a road was constructed and covers almost its entirety.