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Volunteer monitoring groups seek $100,000 county support for coastal water testing after fires and ongoing concerns
Summary
Representatives of Hui O Ka Wai Ola and the Maui Nui Marine Resource Council asked the council to include funds to continue water‑quality monitoring across 41 sites, citing long‑term data, post‑fire sampling and elevated nitrate and turbidity at several locations.
Volunteer water‑quality monitors and conservation groups asked the Maui County Council to provide sustained funding for coastal sampling programs that community groups say are essential to track impacts and guide remediation.
“Hui O Ka Wai Ola has been sampling Maui's coastal waters as a quality‑assured program since 2016,” said Liz, a program manager for the Hui, who requested a county proviso of $100,000. “We've collected over 4,800 samples and we've established both a baseline of our coastal waters as well as a rich data set that we make available to the public.”
Sarah Sugi Dono of the Maui Nui Marine Resource Council said the Hui expanded sampling after the August 2023 fires and that volunteers now test 41 beaches across Maui. “We removed the equivalent of 63 school buses worth of sediment from gulches in South Maui, preventing them from washing into the ocean,” she said, and urged increased county support to continue monitoring and restoration work.
Why it matters: Testimony highlighted long‑term trend data showing elevated nutrients and turbidity at multiple sites, cited the Hui’s quality assurance plan and public data access, and said continued funding would support water‑quality decisions, grant applications and remediation projects.
Details: Speakers noted specific concerns: chronic brown water and rising turbidity in North Kihei and nitrate levels near Cove Park that exceed state standards. The Hui’s public dataset and partnerships with Department of Health and researchers were cited as reasons county funds are an effective investment.
Councilmembers asked clarifying questions about public access to the data and the parameters tested; program leaders said the dataset and quality assurance plan are publicly posted (hui0kawaiola.com) and that the Hui expanded testing to include heavy metals, volatile organic compounds and other post‑fire measures when needed.
No budget vote occurred at the hearing.
