• County’s parks plan should address water pollution, climate change County’s parks plan should address water pollution, climate change The county Parks and Recreation Department’s new Master Plan needs to address water pollution and global climate change at beach parks.
• County’s parks plan should address water pollution,
climate change
County’s parks plan should address water pollution, climate change
The county Parks and Recreation Department’s new Master Plan needs to address water pollution and global climate change at beach parks.
The Parks and Recreation Department began a process to develop a master plan for its park and recreation system by having a series of public informational meetings around the island. They asked for public input on a long-range guidance for future development of park and recreational facilities.
Surfrider Foundation, Kaua‘i Chapter, was represented at the meetings and found the directions given by the consultants (Kimura International Inc.) and the working group format were not satisfactory for accepting the diverse input from the community members present or for hearing the concerns of the rest of the community. Through this letter I would like to present Surfrider’s concerns to the community as a whole, as they point out serious public health issues and the potential loss of many of our beach parks.
As reported in The Garden Island recently, there is a serious problem of water pollution at some of the county beach parks that must be addressed in any long-term master plan. This is a serious public health concern that is not being handled by the county or the state Department of Health. These concerns are based on water quality monitoring done by the Department of Health and The Surfrider Foundation, Kaua‘i Chapter.
1. There are 21 public beach parks on Kaua‘i, including Ke‘e Beach at Ha‘ena State Park.
2. Ten of these have lifeguard stations
3. Only 8 of the 21 parks were sampled for sewage pollution at least once a week.
4. Only 5 of the 10 parks with lifeguards were sampled at least once a week.
5. From DOH data for 2010, two county beach parks were polluted more than 50 percent of the time (Hanama‘ulu and Black Pot at Weke Road). For 2008 data, the National Resource Defense Council found that Hanama‘ulu was tied for the 10th most consistently polluted beach in the nation!
6. Black Pot is the only county beach park that has been posted with warning signs.
The Surfrider Foundation Blue Water Task Force on Kaua‘i monitors pollution at surfbreaks and stream sites around Kaua‘i on a monthly basis. They test for the fecal indicator Enterococcus bacteria in the identical way as DOH.
1. Eleven of the 19 sites are off of county beach parks or in streams that flow into the parks.
2. From Surfrider data for 2010, two county beach parks were polluted more than 50 percent of the time (Niumalu and Nawiliwili).
3. None have been posted with warning signs.
With an increasing population using these beach parks and contributing to its water pollution, there is a rising public health risk that needs to be addressed in the county Parks and Recreation Master Plan. Surfrider suggests the following be incorporated into the plan:
1. The county needs to work with the state DOH in monitoring sewage pollution at all of its county beach parks. Those that are consistently clean need only low frequency periodic monitoring.
2. The results of the monitoring need to be immediately posted at the beach parks themselves. The results should also be immediately posted on the web and published in this newspaper so that everyone can chose to go to a polluted beach or a clean one.
3. If pollution levels exceed state DOH and federal levels then the beach must be posted with warning signs or closed. (HAR 11-54-8). This should also happen when the DOH issues a “Brown Water Advisory” due to heavy rainfall and runoff from the land presumed to carry pathogens.
4. Chronically polluted beach parks should be closed until land-based mitigation measures undertaken by the county improve water quality.
The other serious aspect that must be addressed in the Master Plan is global climate change. One of the most noticeable effects will be sea level rise. Higher average sea levels will flood the ground water and the septic systems or cesspools in of homes near the beach. The pathogens and nutrients will be drawn back into the ocean, especially at low tides, polluting beach waters.
Sea level rise will mean more flooding of the beach parks and shoreline roads. This will cause erosion of all our sandy shorelines. We are already seeing the effects at Po‘ipu Beach Park. Will we lose all of our beach parks? Is the county prepared to continually replenish the sand at all beach parks?
For example, with a 6’ rise in sea level Kealia Beach will be gone. Will the county or private land owners install rock revetments or concrete sea walls, which protect the land but cause the sandy beach to disappear?
A special section of the Master Plan must include an analysis of erosion rates and inundation predicted by sea level rise. It is best not to develop infrastructure, such as restroom facilities with septic systems, in areas that will be inundated and eventually washed away.
Carl J. Berg, Ph.D., Chairman, Executive Committee
The Surfrider Foundation, Kaua‘i Chapter
