Traditionally, agricultural sites, both non-irrigated and irrigated, were concentrated in lowland and valley areas on Kaua'i.
Agricultural terraces were noted in the higher, innermost parts of valleys that were well watered from rain and drainage streams. Recently, upland agricultural sites were located in the leeward parts of Kaua'i, many in native Hawaiian forests and at elevations from 1000 to 2000 feet.
The archaeology and definition of the locations, size and number of these fields may be correlated to the desertification of the lowland coastal regions and the increasing need to expand agriculture into marginal slopes on Kaua'i.