Posted on November 22, 2021
KAHANA — The second Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) has been published for a $26,000,000 to $40,000,000 project to mitigate shoreline erosion from Kahana Stream to Pohaku Park.
Details on the DEIS for the Kahana Bay Erosion Mitigation project are featured in the Nov. 8 issue of the state Office of Environmental Quality Control’s “The Environmental Notice” digital publication, which is available for review at https://health.hawaii.gov/oeqc/.
New comments on the study are due by Dec. 23, 2021.
The applicant, the Kahana Bay Steering Committee, represents nine condominiums and one kuleana parcel along the coastline between Kahana Stream and Pohaku Park.
According to the DEIS, “For decades, Kahana Bay on Maui has experienced severe coastal erosion from sea level rise, storm events, and shoreline development. This has resulted in natural hazard risks to public safety and infrastructure. Approximately 1,200 feet of this shoreline is protected by temporary emergency structures.”
If approved, in an estimated six- to nine-month project, beach nourishment activities will include dredging, transporting and placing between 50,000 and 100,000 cubic yards of sand from identified offshore borrow areas. These activities are designed to restore the beach to a 1975 target beach width.
A berm enhancement using dredged sand and planted with native coastal flora along the backshore of the beach profile will help provide wave run-up protection and serve as a sand reservoir to the beach system.
To keep the restored sand in place, seven beach stabilizing composite T-groins will extend perpendicularly from the shoreline to about 215 feet offshore, each with approximately 200-foot-wide breakwater sections.
In addition, the headland at the north end of the project area will be reinforced with imported boulder stones.
The approving agency for the beach restoration project is the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Omissions were corrected to the Draft EIS originally published on April 23, 2021 that resulted in the decision to publish a second DEIS.
A new statutory 45-day public review and comment period starts, although all comments previously submitted will be addressed in the Final EIS and do not need to be resubmitted. Comments may be sent to project consultant Oceanit via kahana@oceanit.com.
