This work is an investigation of the desorption by O 1s excitation of ions from Si(100) reacted with water. Photoelectron, photostimulated desorption, and electron-ion coincidence spectroscopy are used to observe the process. When the incident photons have energy levels which are near the 1s threshold of O, they induce Auger decay that is accompanied by shakeup/off excitation and cascade Auger decay, and they are shown to be the main factor responsible for desorption in this case. When the photons have energy levels which are above the shakeup threshold, most of the desorption that occurs is a result of the shakeup excitation that accompanies the core excitation. In both cases, the desorption is induced by the respective multihole final states. The ion desorption yield for the two-hole final states of the normal process of Auger decay is small. The results are discussed, with the help of the Auger electron spectra, mainly in terms of the lifetime of the final state of Auger decay.