LIHU‘E— The Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative is resuming the installation of bird diverters on power lines to reduce collisions with endangered nocturnal seabirds.
The diverters attach to line spans — the horizontal distance between two supports, such as wood poles or steel towers. Using drones, the cooperative installed diverters on 109 spans in 2020, and expects to install diverters on a further 628 spans by the end of 2021.
The cooperative is using two types of apparatus.
“Reflective diverters are small devices that glow in the dark and help Newell’s shearwater, Hawaiian petrel and band-rumped storm petrel avoid power lines as they fly mauka to makai after dark,” KIUC Transmission and Distribution Manager John Cox said in a press release.
“LED diverters use a small solar panel that charges during the day and produces light that’s visible to birds throughout the evening.”
KIUC’s islandwide project is prioritized based on bird-collision levels and line accessibility, KIUC spokesperson Beth Tokioka told The Garden Island in an email.
“Many of the installations will occur in remote areas that won’t be visible to residents,” she said. “For any installations near residences, we’re contacting these members directly by mail prior to the scheduled work.”
KIUC uses LED diverters, which are passive with no electronic output, in remote areas of Kaua‘i. The reflective variety is utilized on spans closer to residential areas, commercial districts and public roadways.
Engineering and Technology Manager Cameron Kruse has stated KIUC installation crews will minimize disruption to traffic while the work is taking place.
Bird diverters are estimated to be 40% to 90% effective in minimizing power-line collisions, depending on type and location, according to Tokioka, who noted data is still being collected.
The cooperative is also working with U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife, funding programs and studies dedicated to understanding at-risk bird species and performing line reconfigurations in addition to diverter installations, according to Tokioka, who said KIUC is the major financial sponsor of the Save Our Shearwaters program on Kaua‘i.
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Scott Yunker, general assignment reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or syunker@thegardenisland.com.
