KEKAHA — Barriers appeared Thursday along Kaumuali‘i Highway near milepost 26.5 in Kekaha. The concrete barriers, enhanced by the presence of safety cones and yellow safety tape, were installed on the makai side, or oceanside, of the highway as a
KEKAHA — Barriers appeared Thursday along Kaumuali‘i Highway near milepost 26.5 in Kekaha.
The concrete barriers, enhanced by the presence of safety cones and yellow safety tape, were installed on the makai side, or oceanside, of the highway as a precautionary safety measure, states a release from the state Department of Transportation.
The state DOT has been working with Hawai‘i Sen. Ronald Kouchi, the County of Kaua‘i and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to assess the situation and determine a mitigation plan.
On Monday, the County of Kaua‘i relocated its Kekaha Beach lifeguard tower to the western end of MacArthur Park due to continued erosion along Kekaha Beach.
“We don’t really have a home,” said one of the water safety officers on duty.
“With the stronger currents and higher tides from the recent full moon, we don’t really know what to expect.”
County officials predict that increased wave activity due to storms passing to the south of the Hawaiian Islands could cause the shoreline to further erode, the county release states.
“We will continue to monitor the situation along with our County Parks Department to take the necessary precautions in preserving the lifeguard tower and other facilities,” Kaua‘i Fire Chief Robert Westerman said in the release. “We will relocate the tower if and when it becomes necessary.”
A Kekaha resident of five years noted the absence of sand in the short period of time she has not been walking her dog.
“There is even a car down there,” a lifeguard said from his new vantage point on the relocated tower. “It has an engine and everything.”
Park-goers speculate the eroding beach unearthed a tangle of keawe trees which dotted the area where MacArthur Park is located, and mixed it with the freshly toppled crownflower and other beach shrubbery.
Dr. Chuck Blay, a geologist, naturalist and educator with TEOK Investigations and the author of “Kaua‘i’s Geologic History: A Simplified Overview,” said it is a complicated situation with many variables, but the bottom line issue everyone is interested in deals with how the beaches might change, especially with respect to its disappearance.
A Kauai Shoreline Study Erosion Maps on the county’s website at the Kauai County Planning Department (www.soest.hawaii.edu/coasts/kauaicounty/KCounty.html) notes, “The Kekaha study area, bounded on the west by Kokole Point and in the east by O‘omano Point, is experiencing erosion at an average rate of -1.6 feet per year. Kekaha Beach Park is experiencing erosion at an average rate of -1.7 feet per year while the remaining portion of sandy beach is eroding at an average rate of -1.1 foot a year.”
Blay said, “Perhaps the major control on the future of any beach on Kaua‘i will be what is going on at the landward extent of the beach. If the beach is in a relatively undeveloped part of the island, such as the Mana Coastal Plain, along Na Pali, Maha‘ulepu and other more remote locations, the beach may merely retreat intact, landward.”
He said beaches fronting major developed areas such as around Kekaha, Po‘ipu, Wailua/Kapa‘a and Ha‘ena, may diminish or even disappear, since land development such as seawalls, jetties, harbors, etc., will prevent the beach from slowly moving landward.
“In those cases, the sand will either move to another portion of the shoreline, or just stay ashore,” said Blay, who is scheduled to release a revised version of his book in the fall.
He noted that the sea level is rising and will continue to rise through this century.
“Our shorelines, including beaches, will adjust in whatever way they can, depending to a great extent on the influence of the island’s human occupants,” Blay said. “On Kaua‘i, we will read more and more about coastal erosion problems; however, we probably won’t read much about beaches that grow. Nobody complains about too much sand on their beach.”
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
