Public can weigh in about study to restore Kahaluʻu Bay during meeting in Kona

In 2006, concerns were first raised to the nonprofit Kohala Center about the health of the coral and the ecosystem at the popular snorkeling spot Kahaluʻu Bay in Kailua-Kona.

At the time, community members asked the nonprofit to expand its ReefTeach program to Kahaluʻu Bay to educate visitors and residents about how to avoid damaging corals and how to take care of honu (green sea turtles) and reef animals.

Cindi Punihaole, the longtime director of the nonprofit’s Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center, said the large number of users “were loving the bay to death” by stepping on coral and killing them.

While some efforts, including the education of users, have been taken over the years, the estimated 400,000 users per year are still having a negative impact, as well as other stressors that include cesspool waste.

But now, federal and local efforts to protect and restore the bay are amping up. A public scoping and informational meeting to introduce the Kahalu‘u Bay Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Study will take place Thursday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the West Hawai‘i Civic Center in Kona.

The $1 million study — under Section 206 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 — began on Aug. 14 and is in the scoping process. It is being conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers’ Honolulu District and the Hawai‘i County Department of Parks and Recreation, in partnership with Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center.

“Our main objective is to restore the degraded areas to their natural position,” said Cindy Acpal, project manager of the study for the Army Corps.

Acpal said there are two parts to the upcoming meeting. The first is to introduce the study to the community and give them background on how it will move forward. The second part is to get information about the area from those who are familiar with the bay.

The count of bay users was conducted by the County Lifeguard and University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program. It covers the approximately 1.5-mile Kahalu‘u Bay, with a pocket beach and beach park located 5 miles south of Kona off Ali‘i Drive. The bay and park is managed by the Parks and Recreation Department.

Kahalu‘u Bay is a historical and cultural site for the Native Hawaiian community.

Along the shoreline of Kahaluʻu Bay is a parking lot, two pavilions and two restrooms protected by three seawalls. Between two of the seawalls is a non-functional traditional fishpond.

Corals are interspersed throughout the bay, with some partially sheltered from waves by a historic breakwater called the Menehune Wall.

Acpal said discussions to initiate the study started in 2022 after Hawai‘i County submitted a letter requesting funding. Acpal said these studies require a non-federal sponsor, which in this case is the county, and a cost-share agreement.

This feasibility study will take about three years, with the county and the Army Corps splitting the $1.02 million cost.

Acpal said the Army Corps of Engineers have noted runoff and sediment from nearby toxins entering the bay, smothering the coral and other marine life in the area, inhibiting growth.

Four major habitat types are in the bay: intertidal zone, tide pool, lagoon and coral reef. At the shoreline are intertidal zones and tide pools. The area within the breakwater is a lagoon with the highest concentration of corals in the southern portion. It is these four habitats combined with shallow waters of the bay that make Kahalu‘u Bay a popular recreational destination.

Five years after the first concerns about the bay were raised, the Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center, operating out of the Kohala Center, was established in 2011. It promotes reef-friendly practices to visitors to protect the bay’s fragile ecosystem and ensure the bay and park remain a clean, safe and welcoming place.

Punihaole, who recently becoming the director of ‘āina advocacy at the Kohala Center, had worked for years to get funding to do a consistent restoration and design of the bay and surrounding area.

She said stressors that impact the bay include sewage inundating the area from cesspools along Ali‘i Drive.

In August, researchers from University of Hawai‘i at Hilo dropped a small amount of the dye, fluorescein, into sewage disposal systems of residences upstream to see where sewage water travels and if it’s entering the bay.

“We know the sewage takes only 4-1/2 hours to get to the coastline,” Punihaole said. “We’re looking at ways to minimize impact and working with the county on closing the park for coral spawning.”

Once a year for years, the county has been closing the park to allow for coral spawning in the bay.

Punihaole hopes to preserve the bay for future generations as a place to be enjoyed as well as to have enough fish in the waters to feed the community.

Thatcher Moats, spokesperson for the Department of Parks and Recreation, said the bay is a “valuable recreational and ecological resource, and it’s important we play a role in supporting that.”

Moats said how the county manages the park and land-based area has an impact on the bay, and that the study will identify what are the best measures that can be taken to mitigate some of the impacts.

Moats said the park also has aging infrastructure, including the bathrooms and the pavilion, that can be upgraded.

The meeting will be at the West Hawai‘i Civic Center, 74-5044 Ane Keohokālole Highway, Building G Conference Room. It also will be streamed online. Click here for additional meeting details.