Officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service are working with state officials and others to plan ways to reduce pollution impacts on coral reefs in Hanalei Bay and reefs off
Officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service are working with state officials and others to plan ways to reduce pollution impacts on coral reefs in Hanalei Bay and reefs off Maui and Moloka‘i.
The project also is intended to improve the water quality around reefs, according to EPA spokesman Dean Higuchi.
“The EPA will work with its partners to use our programs, authorities and grants to protect reefs that are essential to the food supply, economy, culture and shoreline protection of Hawai‘i,” said Alexis Strauss, water division director of EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region.
The project is “a new tool in the tool box to protect coral reefs and the near-shore environment,” Higuchi said.
Hanalei Bay was selected by a steering committee for participation in the project partly due to ongoing efforts by Kaua‘i groups and individuals to protect reefs in the bay, Higuchi said.
“There has been great community interest, a high amount of ongoing community support,” Higuchi said.
Ongoing support has come from proponents of the Hanalei Heritage River program, which seeks to improve the quality of water in the Hanalei River watershed.
The watershed runs from the top of Mt. Wai‘ale‘ale to Pu‘u Point and Makahoa Point, an area located on the western edge of the bay.
Supporters of the Hanalei Heritage River program were eligible last May for up to $700,000 in grants from the EPA to protect the river and streams in the Hanalei ahupua‘a.
Members of the Hanalei-based Limu Coalition also have striven to protect the river from over-commercialization by tour boats that used the river as a start-off point for tours to Na Pali Coast.
Should the latest EPA project become successful, the program could be expanded to help other reefs on Kaua‘i and elsewhere in the state, Higuchi said
Other factors were used in determining which reefs could be helped through the federal project. They included land-management and pollution-control activities and data gathered on reef and water-quality conditions.
In addition to the Hanalei ahupua‘a, the government plan focuses on the two other priority ahupua‘a, one at Honolua, Maui and the other from Kawela to Kapualei on Moloka‘i.
Supporters of the Hawaii Local Action Strategy will attempt to reduce pollution to improve the quality of coastal waters and health of coral ecosystems; improve coordination among federal and state agency officials, land managers and marine scientists; improve knowledge of how land management affects the health of coral reefs; and increase awareness statewide of pollution prevention and control measures.
“Building on the ahupua‘a concept, we believe the local action strategy will lead to a greater understanding that all things in the environment are connected,” said Lawrence T. Yamamoto, state conservationist of the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
“Responsible actions on our islands mean healthier coral reefs.”
Higuchi said it was his understanding people or community groups can apply for funds to protect marine resources to participate in the new project.
Other partners involved in the program include the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the state Department of Health, and the Hawaii Coastal Zone Management Program.
Staff Writer Lester Chang may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net.
