Hawaii First Water

Hawaii and the Ghost of Climate Change Future

June 2017; The Atlantic Magazine, Adrienne Lafrance

The water is everywhere.

For the second time in a month, Hawaii’s coastlines have been swamped by epic tides. The phenomenon, known as a king tide, is actually a convergence of a few different factors: high lunar tides, rising sea levels associated with last year’s strong El Niño and climate change, swirling pockets of ocean eddies, and a robust south swell—that is, big waves rolling onto south-facing shores.

King tides happen routinely in the Hawaiian Islands—a few times a year, usually—but this year’s batch have been particularly extreme. Data from federal tide stations around Hawaii show that water levels have been up to six inches above predicted tidal heights since early last year. In April, levels peaked at more than nine inches above predicted tides and broke the record high for any water level around Hawaii since 1905. Scientists say the record is likely to be broken again in 2017.

Several Honolulu roadways have been submerged. Beaches have been washed out. Beachfront hotels have canceled shorefront entertainment and readied generators. Property owners living near the coasts were told to move electronics and other valuables up to the second floor of their houses and park their cars elsewhere. People photographed fish swimming down the streets. And all around the islands, small mountains of sand have been deposited in parking lots and other strange places—spots the waves should never reach.

For the people of Hawaii, alarm bells are ringing. King tides like this aren’t just a historic anomaly; they’re a sign of what’s to come. “Within a few decades this will be the new normal,” said Chip Fletcher, associate dean of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaiʻi, in a university statement. “Hawaii should consider this a practice run, and reevaluate policies and development practices accordingly.”

“It’s a risk big enough to get the attention of officials who usually watch things like hurricanes and tsunamis,” said the local TV reporter Gina Mangieri, who reported for KHON that emergency-management officials had called for “all-hands-on-deck coordination” across state, county, and federal agencies to protect critical infrastructure and the public.

Scientists believe Hawaii could experience a sea-level increase of three feet by the year 2100, which is in line with global predictions of sea-level change and which would substantially reshape life on the Islands. That’s part of why scientists are enlisting volunteers to help photograph and describe incremental high tides across Hawaii.

“First-person experiences that are place-based and familiar reinforce that climate changes impacts are local in nature and not a distant phenomenon,” the university’s King Tides Project website says. More than 60 volunteers have submitted more than 900 photos so far.

To see the rest of this fine article see…

Bill to ban cesspools statewide awaits Governor’s signature

May 2017: HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) –

A measure heading to the governor’s desk would ban Hawaii’s nearly 90,000 cesspools by the year 2050, a move that some say would slow progress in bolstering the affordable housing inventory.

The bill comes a year after Gov. David Ige banned newly-constructed cesspools in the state.

“Cesspools, on average, release 55 million gallons of untreated sewage a day into streams, oceans and nearby waterways,” said Marti Townsend, director of Sierra Club of Hawaii. “That’s an extreme amount of untreated raw sewage that people end up swimming in, fishing from and maybe even drinking.”

Health officials say untreated sewage can be linked to skin infections and illnesses like Leptospirosis and Hepatitis A.

“Public health and safety is on the line,” said state Rep. Chris Lee. “We want clean waters, we want clean beaches, and this is a step in that direction.”

The state is offering a $10,000 tax credit to homeowners who convert to septic tanks, aerobic systems, or sewer lines.

See the rest of the story…

 

City crews respond to another massive leak at Ko Olina resort

January 2017, KO OLINA, OAHU (HawaiiNewsNow) –

City crews on Tuesday responded to a massive sewage spill at the Ko Olina resort in West Oahu, the second such spill in the area in the last three months.

The rupture occurred within 32 feet of another leak, one that happened back in November, where more than 200,000 gallons of untreated wastewater flooded into an undeveloped area on the Diamond Head side of the resort.

“We have a massive sewage spill where a force-main broke,” said environmental activist Carroll Cox. “We were told about 8:15 this morning, the city called out all of its vacuum trucks, sent out an alert for all of them to report to this facility.”

Cell phone video, taken about an hour before city crews shut down the pipeline, shows thousands of gallons of raw sewage draining onto an area near a nearby golf course.

City crews dispatched nearly a dozen vacuum trucks, tankers and cesspool trucks to clean up the spill. The trucks later dumped the sewage into sewer lines away from the break, allowing it to be sent to a nearby treatment plant.

The spill was contained by about 10:30 a.m., and the cause is still under investigation.

City Environmental Services Director Lori Kahikina said it’s still too early to provide an estimate on the size of the spill, but said it could be as large as the last one. The previous leak was caused by corrosion.

“As of now, we know it’s a very large spill, similar to the last one,” she said. Kahikina says none of the sewage made its way to the ocean.

In the meantime, environmentalists are questioning whether the existing sewer lines can handle all of the development and growth at Ko Olina, including plans for a Atlantis resort in the area.

“There’s been some big development happening there, so it really questions whether all this growth can be accommodated for,” said Jodi Malinowski, Oahu Group Coordinator for Sierra Club Hawaii. “We’re disappointed that there’s been another spill.”

The city plans says it plans to begin repairs today. Over the longer term, it wants talk to developers to see if even larger sewage lines are needed, though repairs of that magnitude could potentiall cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

Copyright 2016 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

Oahu’s Ala Wai Watershed Student Design Challenge

December: (Editor Kobayashi Note:  In case you missed it, the UH announced this competition for students at the Conservation Congress to deal with the continuing problems of the strategic Ala Wai Canal In Honolulu.  Here is the timetable for 2017, use the link to the challenge website and good luck!!)

The Ala Wai Watershed Student Design Challenge, was announced by the University of Hawai‘i at the U.S.-hosted 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress. The Challenge looks to unlock student innovation and creativity to craft solutions that address critical urban watershed and island issues, specifically, restoring watershed ecologies and exploring culture’s contribution to sustainable development.

The University of Hawai’i seek ideas from the brightest minds of our youth and students to help advance the collective goals and action agenda of the Ala Wai Watershed Partnership (AWWP) (e.g., stream and ecosystem restoration, green stormwater infrastructure, water capture and reuse, sediment control, flood mitigation, contemporary urban ahupua’a, Ala Wai as a destination, education and engagement with community/youth, coalition of teams with local participation, etc.)

Here is a link to the challenge website…

TIMELINE
Sept 5th, 2016 – Design competition announced @ IUCN-WCC
Sept – Dec 2016 – Outreach to students
Jan 9th, 2017 – Design Challenge opens
Jan 9th-31st, 2017 – Registration period
March 17th, 2017  – Design entries close
May 2017 – Exhibition of design entries at various locations
Week of June 25th, 2017 – Winners announced at World Youth Congress 2017

UH researchers link quality of coastal groundwater with reef

December;

(Honolulu, HI) Land-use practices on tropical oceanic islands can have large impacts on reef ecosystems, even in the absence of rivers and streams. Land-based pollutants, such as fertilizers and chemicals in wastewater, infiltrate into the groundwaters beneath land and eventually exit into nearshore ecosystems as submarine groundwater discharge (SGD)—seeping into the coastal zone beneath the ocean’s surface. In a study published recently in PLOS ONE, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM) scientists used a combination of field experiments and chemical analysis of water and algae to show that the quality of coastal groundwater plays a major role in determining the health of nearshore ecosystems in Hawai‘i.

Various sources of pollution, such as agriculture or sewage treatment facilities, have identifiable chemical signatures, particularly the isotopes of nitrogen in the nutrients they contain. This study assessed groundwater quality, coastal water quality, and reef health across six different bays on Maui with various potential sources of pollution. By comparing the nitrogen isotope signature of algae tissues and potential pollution, the research group traced nutrients in the algae back to their land-based sources.

This study is the first to show the extent of the impact of wastewater injection wells at Kahului Wastewater Reclamation Facility, Maui’s highest-volume sewage treatment plant, on Kahului Bay. In addition to relatively high nutrient levels in marine surface waters in Kahului Bay, shallow areas were almost entirely dominated by a thick fleshy mat of colonial zoanthids, a phenomenon not reported anywhere else in the state. A concurrent companion study to this work, led by James Bishop at the UHM Department of Geology and Geophysics, found that water collected from beach sands, which represents coastal groundwater, next to the Kahului Wastewater Reclamation Facility contained up to 75 percent treated wastewater—highlighting the impact of wastewater in this area.

For the rest of this article including citations see

 

Study finds injection wells, agriculture harming Maui bays

November 2016;

HONOLULU (AP) – A team of University of Hawaii scientists has completed a study of nearshore ecosystems across Maui that shows the harmful impacts of discharged treated wastewater.

The findings were published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE earlier this month.

The scientists analyzed water and algae at six locations around Maui, including Kahului Bay, which is adjacent to Maui’s highest-volume sewage treatment plant. A study of the bay found high nutrient levels in marine surface waters near the Kahului Wastewater Reclamation Facility and a “thick, fleshy mat” of colonial zoanthids, a coral-like organism.

For the rest of the article see this…

‘Ike Wai: Securing Hawai’i’s Water Future, supported by NSF EPSCoR

October (Editor Comment:  Although NSF granted the UH $20 Million for water research earlier this year, see link to see how the UH is beginning to formulate its water research plan and its video.  See the link here)

Hawai‘i depends exclusively on local water. The ‘Ike Wai project will provide data and models that address the grand challenge of water sustainability. A diverse workforce of data scientists and water researchers will work in concert with the community, government and business to inform decision makers with high-quality data and predictive capacity.  The project incorporates indigenous and local communities, and its robust, inclusive and diverse human capital pipeline of undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs and junior faculty will address water challenges at the academic and policy level.

The Governor’s World Conservation Congress Legacy Commitment: “30 by 30 Watershed Forests Target”

The Hawaiian koa-‘ōhi‘a rainforests capture and provide the islands’ supply of fresh clean water, lessen impacts from climate change, dramatically reduce flooding and erosion into our coral reefs, provide an ecosystem for unique plants and wildlife, and have profound cultural significance. Approximately 20% of land area in Hawaiʻi is identified as priority watershed. In 2011, only 10% of these priority watersheds were protected.

The rest of the Governor’s statement is here…

Ige On Water Protection: Don’t Stop At Papahanaumokuakea

September: Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat:

Gov. David Ige welcomed a major environmental conference to Hawaii on Thursday by committing to protect more of his state’s watersheds and nearshore ocean waters.

Ige spoke to several thousand people at the opening of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s World Conservation Congress, which will continue through Sept. 10 at the Hawaii Convention Center.

He announced the state’s commitment to protect 30 percent of its highest priority watersheds by 2030 and to “effectively manage” 30 percent of its nearshore ocean waters in the same time frame.

“We are a microcosm of our planet Earth,” Ige said during opening ceremonies at the Blaisdell Center. “We cannot afford to mess this up.”

(Comment:  Although a majority of the opening speakers addressed ocean issues, our governor opened his welcoming comments which a statement which directly concerns freshwater supplies on our islands.)

For the rest of the article and all of Civil Beat’s excellent coverage of the World Conservation Congress which is ongoing in Honolulu see this link

He Lono Moku

August: This week the IUCN World Conservation Congress will be held in Honolulu, Hawaii to further the cause of world environmental concerns.  A Hawaii based Environmental Funders Group published what will become an annual report on the state of Hawaii’s environment.   I will be attending the Congress and reporting on any interesting findings which are particularly focused on fresh water issues on Hawai’i and other Pacific Islands.  (By Larry Kobayashi)

Here is the preface and the link to actual report.

The State of the Environment: HAWAI‘I 2016

With the IUCN World Conservation Congress being held in the United States for the first time, Hawai‘i’s environment and sustainability efforts are on the world stage. He lono moku recognizes this global momentum and highlights priorities for environmental equilibrium in Hawai‘i. This state of the environment report shares our advances in freshwater security, renewable energy, and community-based marine management—and is candid about where our efforts are falling well short.

Each year, he lono moku will track and share progress across a variety of environmental topics. At the center of the world’s largest ocean and with a tourism economy directly linked to our environment, we cannot afford to overlook our precious natural resources. As the voyaging canoe Hōkūle‘a returns home after circumnavigating island earth, the Hawai‘i Environmental Funders Group joins the global call to embrace a “mālama honua”—care for the earth—mindset to ensure that our Islands thrive for generations to come.

Progress must be real—we cannot fool Mother Nature. The traditional Hawaiian proverb rings even more true today than centuries ago when first uttered: “He ali‘i ka ‘āina, he kauwā ke kanaka.” The land is a chief, man is its servant.

 

And here is the link to their report…