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Southwest Maui Watershed Plan

Watershed Advisory Group Steering Committee Meeting
June 10, 2010, 1:00 p.m - 2:45 p.m.
HIHWNMS (Humpback Whale Sanctuary) Education Center
726 S. Kihei Rd., Kihei, Maui

Summary
This was the third meeting of the WAG Steering Committee in the two-year Southwest
Maui Watershed Planning project. There were three topics on the agenda: 1) Project
Progress Report; 2) Planning for the Next Public Meeting; and 3) Continuing to link
watershed goals, indicators and objectives. There were 12 people present.

Upcoming meetings
The next Steering Committee meeting will be July 8 at an Upcountry location to be
determined. The next WAG meeting, following June 10, will be August 12.

Attendees
Michael Brady, Luisa Castro, Jacob Freeman, Skippy Hau, Daniel Kanahele, Pamela Kantarova,
Robin Knox, Teri Leonard, Doug MacCluer, Richard Renn, Scott Rollins (representing Dave
Taylor) and Richard Sylva.

Project Progress Report

Grant process / Weather Station Discussion:
USGS has a lot of weather data which is supplied by the ranch and there are other weather
stations at HCS and Monsanto. Tapping into existing stations will help.

Education and Outreach:

• Website design is on track and a draft logo is being revised and should be ready to
present to the WAG by the next meeting. The website design goal is to be simple, but
inclusive. It may benefit the process launch the site before it is complete so it can at least
be used to post meeting information and minutes.

• Laie Wetland Restoration Project : water quality monitoring is continuing with help from
NOAA Sanctuary and Community Work Day volunteers. A report will be ready next
month.

• Malama Mauka to Makai: a Community Work Day Event, well attended by about 100
residents. Robin Knox was a featured speaker and presented on the SMWP.

• Kihei Community Association: The June meeting will focus on our reefs and Robin
Knox will be a panel member discussing the watershed.
WAG:
The latest draft Guiding Principles was presented to the SC. One correction, the Hawaiian word
for “respect”, ho`ihi, was noted. The group agreed it’s ready to share with the WAG.

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Public Meeting Planning:

The next public meeting’s agenda is to present the watershed characteristics results. Robin
suggested that a fun, interactive format might facilitate increased understanding and connections
through a presentation as well as educational displays. A welcoming, fair-like, environment that
includes food and possibly music might be even more inviting. The group agrees.

Potential partner groups include: Surfrider; DAR; NOAA; CORAL; South Maui Sustainability;
MNMRC Turbidity Task Force; Save Honolua Coalition; a children’s group/program; Haleakala,
Ulupalakua, Kamaole and Thompson ranches; “Sakagawa” guys; Hawaiian homes; farm and
agricultural participants including the farm bureau; other Soil and Water Conservation Dist.
Representatives; and, “Rancho Relaxo” in Maui Meadows; and, those involved in development
like Charlie Jenks from Wailea 670.

Education about permaculture and the kinds of farming and practices done in the watershed might
interest the community.

The idea of forming committees is raised since there are action lists coming out of the SC and
volunteers are needed to complete some of the tasks. An event like this, particularly, requires
some time and planning. Volunteers will be recruited from the WAG. Teri Leonard will co-chair.
The event will take place at least two months from now.

Watershed Goals, Indicators and Objectives -- Part 2

Work continued on the worksheet list of problems/concerns, causes, indicators, goals and
objectives. Describing the concern and immediately moving to the goals, before causes and
indicators, greatly facilitated the process.

The question of whether ocean acidification is a proven threat was raised. Robin said that it’s
actually been identified by as a problem here on Maui: a Hawaii scientist looked at DOH ph data
and found that ph is lower closer to land than out at sea, creating interest in looking at land based
causes.

Flooding:
• Some parts of Kihei, like the Waipuilani area have flooded in large storms, inundating
some homes with several feet of water and mud.
• Flooding like that doesn’t occur in intact wetlands, so one goal is to closely
approximating natural flooding through wetlands and forests which capture water and
minimizing impervious surfaces in the built environment.
• NEMO: Non-point Education for Municipal Officials - managing runoff
• This place was a wetland in the past and though warned of flooding by elders,
development continued beyond the few existing shacks and houses in the 50’s and 60’s.
• Easy to see the culverts are really undersized along S. Kihei Rd. when comparing to new
culverts along the highway.
• Upcountry land was better managed in the past. Native forest and grasses were intact.
Then non-native and aliens species, like pigs, arrived and there was overgrazing in this
huge, 50,000 acre area. Now, runoff isn’t stopped and comes all the way down.
• Dumping in gulches is especially problematic. For decades, into the 70’s, they were used
for discarding cars, refrigerators, etc… The gulch in Makawao was referred to as “the
dump”. This is our pilikia (trouble) and we need to remove the trash in the gulches. Water

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quality assessments can take years but looking at debris that has come down doesn’t.
Debris can be measured, but outcomes are spotty: flooding after the Poli Poli fire
damaged homes in Keokea, but houses down here were fine.
• Flooding is variable due to rain events. Comparison assessment by using weather stations
and figuring time delay from upslope rain to when it is seen on the coast which can be
sunny/dry but experiencing run off. Measure volumes of water. Build a model and work
backwards.
• Flooding is a problem on land because it causes property damage which can be addressed
and cleaned up. In the ocean it creates an unhealthy environment that cannot be cleaned
up. The measurement gets back to what’s happening in the ocean. A healthy ocean
means everything is good on land, otherwise, it indicates problems. Turbidity is a
measurement.
• After the big storm a few years ago, FEMA came and studied the problem and the
drainage system along So. Kihei Rd. A report with improvement recommendations
should be available.
• Need to inventory all the siltation basins and culverts.
• Measuring the economic impacts to homes and businesses can be another measure.

Lack of Fishery:
• The goals are to have an abundance of native fishes and enough herbivores to keep corals
healthy. Balance is key.
• Many causes: changes in water chemistry (nitrogen and PH) cause algae overgrowth
which inhibits coral growth/causes collapse so essential fish hiding places are destroyed;
runoff pollution from asphalt and tar; sedimentation and impervious surfaces from
development (Especially on ag land, for instance Honolua development hurt the reef
much more than agricultural practices did.); point source pollution like injection well
effluent which effects the chemistry and water temperature; fresh water load and quality
changes (aquifer reduction from wells, etc. so less water seeping into the ocean and water
from other watersheds is imported and used here).
• According to an engineer, the natural flow of fresh water is 1 - 2 million gallons per day
per mile of coastline. Compare to 3 - 4 million gallons per day, in one location, from
injection wells.
• Assessments come from fish survey’s, algae measurements and whether the coral is
growing or degrading.
• DOH and DAR are working to establishing bio-criteria and methods for determining
water quality. Establishing pass/fail points is essential and there are a lot of questions
related to that.
• More direct measures could be looking at actual pollutant loads - both point and NPS.

Algae blooms:
• Overgrowth of both invasive and native causes problems
• The goals are to have diverse and balanced native algae blooms; healthy corals with
abundant fishes; reduced invasive algae; reduced blooms; more Ogo and less Hypnea; a
return to gathering for food and medicinal purposes.
• Since native algae is declining, its presence could be an indicator of current conditions.
• Causes include water chemistry; introduction of alien algae; runoff; point sources

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• In certain forests, BMPs are to clean gear between sites and some sites have dedicated
gear. Is this necessary for reefs too where recreationists are going from area to area and
even using gear previously used on reefs outside Hawaii?
• Assessments include % algae cover; number of tons washing up on beaches; smell and
visual assessments.
• Watershed tours are a great idea and should include areas with stinky algae buildup.

Action items from June 10 steering committee meeting

# Due
Description Person
date
Public Meeting #2 Event Planning:
1
• Form a committee and recruit co-chair and members from WAG Teri
• Invite farmers and ranchers to participate in event (Richard, Doug)
2
Present Draft Guiding Principles to WAG Robin

3
Update Worksheet 4-4 draft and send to SC for review Robin

4
5

Notes prepared by Rene Umberger.

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Worksheet 4-4, Identifying concerns, causes, goals, and indicators
What are the What do you think caused the
problems/concerns problems?
in the watershed?
Coral Reef Decline See list.
Mirror of health of UN report on global study: 3
watershed; it’s the threats: overfishing, acidification
end of the line. of water causing bleaching;
warming of water
Alien species
Land-based pollution
Sedimentation (soil) Erosion, runoff, channelization,
(a cause of reef land clearing, animal grazing,
decline. Loss of wind, construction, rising sea
topsoil, loss of level; resuspension due to
productivity) swells and currents
What resource is Silt built up in concrete channels
being threatened?
Flooding Impervious surfaces;
development of wetlands;
undersize culverts on South
Kihei Road; upcountry land
management (shift from native
forest and grasses to aliens),
overgrazing, debris and rubbish
in the gulch ,
Lack of Fishery Change in water chemistry;
urban runoff (including toxics;
invasive algae; point sources,
incr temperature; altered
freshwater flow; channel
alteration
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How can we assess What would you like to How will we measure
current conditions see? (goal) progress toward these
(indicators) goals?
CRAMP data Stop coral decline. Monitoring benthic cover.
Meghan Dailer’s data Increase coral coverage. Fishery surveys.
Fish surveys
Coral studies.
Light reflectivity study with
dive follow-up creating
detailed map of live vs.
dead reef.
Monitoring benthic cover.
Turbidity task force is Natural buffers Turbidity
monitoring. Measure Clear water Number and types of
accumulation rates and Healthy coral buffers
totals. Estimate loss of soil Healthy fish population Quantitative repeatable
per acre. Measure graded
and bare acreage. Tilled
land.
Volumes of water; time Approximate natural flood
delay; monitoring; zones; built environment
modeling minimizes impervious
Ocean water quality surface
Flood occurrence
frequency, intensity
Built environment flood
Status of drainage system
(FEMA projects)economic
impact
Fish surveys; algae; coral; Plenty abundant native,
pollutant loads for point balanced fisheries; food
and nps fish;
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What are the What do you think caused the How can we assess What would you like to How will we measure
problems/concerns problems? current conditions see? (goal) progress toward these
in the watershed? (indicators) goals?
Algae Blooms Water chemistry; runoff; % algal cover; mass of Diverse native algae
introduction of invasive species; algae on beaches; balance; healthy coral
point sources smells ;visual assessments ecosystems; reduced
invasive algae; gathering
for limu food and medicine
Nutrients Golf courses; ag runoff (P and Monitoring Biology (fish , Meets or does better than Publicly available “visible”
N); landscaping chemicals; coral, algae); water water quality standards; data; temporal and spatial
sewage. Treated effluents, chemistry; improvements of today’s data trends;
cesspools; storm runoff ; levels; adequate
monitoring
Pathogens Runoff; people, domestic human health; health Fishable, Swimmable Health records, complaints
wastewater (human waste, records/complaints waters; safe levels of (actual number of cases
bathwater); animals, domestic (epidemiological) pathogens (humans, verses per capita); water
pets, livestock and wild/ feral enterococcus aquatic life, wildlife); meet quality data
standards or better
Wildfire Lack of management practices Number of fires, intensity, BMPs for fire prevention Number of fires, intensity,
(fuel reduction; prescribed frequency, acreage, and control; Contingency frequency, acreage,
burns; prescribed grazing); lack damage, flame lengths, plans for erosion control; damage, flame lengths,
of post fire mitigation; loss of rates of spread; restoration of native rates of spread;
historic vegetation patterns subsequent runoff, vegetation subsequent runoff,
duration duration
Invasive species
Lack of readily
available information;
in laymen’s terms
Water quality
Water quantity
Urban runoff
Agricultural runoff
Dissolved chemicals
Toxicity/Pharmaceutic
al
Turbidity
=NPS pollution

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