NIUMALU — A project aimed at revitalizing an ailing watershed got a big boost Sunday from volunteers who braved flash flood advisories to battle a silent but deadly enemy. “We were thinking about perhaps not working, but people came,” said
NIUMALU — A project aimed at revitalizing an ailing watershed got a big boost Sunday from volunteers who braved flash flood advisories to battle a silent but deadly enemy.
“We were thinking about perhaps not working, but people came,” said Mason Chock of Leadership Kaua‘i who coordinated the volunteer help for the Malama Hule‘ia project adjacent to the Kaiola Canoe Club hale.
Malama Hule‘ia is aimed at improving Ainakumuwai watershed, the watershed of Hule‘ia, through the eradication of invasive mangrove and Indian Fleabane.
“Mangrove is the cancer of fishponds,” said Buddy Keala, another of the project’s leaders who has been repairing fishponds for at least two decades. “The roots get into the rocks and move them out of place.”
Keala, returning from Moloka‘i where he recently finished a fishpond restoration project, said the Malama Hule‘ia project is a wonderful thing because the local Nawiliwili-Hule‘ia families like the Chows, the Kanes, and the Pias have been involved in trying to restore the area.
Chock said there were several fishponds in the Niumalu area, including some lo‘i.
Malama Hule‘ia’s goal, in addition to revitalizing the watershed, aims to preserve and improve the streams, fishponds and its native habitat. It also seeks to develop a community alliance to see the revitalization and conservation of the Hule‘ia River and its estuary, and develop community awareness and education around the cultural and historical significance of Hule‘ia as a source of life and livelihood.
More than 30 people pitched in Saturday, too.
“The mayor stopped by and we had people from the Kaua‘i Lagoons and Marriott,” Chock said.
Currently, the project is focused on clearing about 2.4 acres of mangrove and Indian Fleabane, which has progressively choked the opening of Pu‘ali stream that flows directly behind the Niumalu Park pavilion. The invasive species also destroys native habitat.
Jan TenBruggencate, project volunteer, said the plan includes sending people in with chainsaws to cut the taller trees followed by others going in with loppers to cut the roots to ground level.
“We’re using a shredder because without it, we filled a roll-off container in about three hours,” TenBruggencate said.
“This way, we can further reduce the invasive plants and the chipped material serves as mulch to prevent the growth of invasive weeds.”
Chock said the shredder was provided by the Waipa Foundation with some of the volunteers also coming from the North Shore.
He added this weekend’s workdays coincided with Earth Day. There are future workdays planned and people interested in volunteering, or scheduling a group, can contact him so the hui can properly prepare and ensure lunch is available for everyone.
Future workdays include July 27 and 28, August 24 and 25, Sept. 21 and 22, and Oct. 19 and 20.
Information: Chock, 651-7013, or mason@kupuae.com
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
