Department of Land and Natural Resources Extension Activities

1. Department of Land and Natural Resources Extension Activities Brad Romine Coastal Management Specialist, Extension Agent University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands (OCCL) Coastal Lands Program

2. Outline • The DLNR-OCCL Coastal Lands Program and history of the Sea Grant extension activities. • My background and research interests. • Ongoing and future projects with DLNRand Sea Grant. Coastal Lands Program

3. DLNR Coastal Lands Program • DLNR is the lead state agency for coastal erosion management and beach conservation. • Coastal Lands Program (CLP) developed, empowered, and funded by the Coastal Erosion and Management Plan (COEMAP, 1999): • “Wide agreement that change is needed in our system of coastal land management” • Develop a consistent and uniform policy of erosion management at the state level. Coastal Lands Program

4. Goals of the Coastal Lands Program Enhancing Hawaii’s coastal communities resilience to natural hazards and climate change impacts - • Provide technical support and expertise to the DLNR-OCCL. • Assist OCCL in coastal land use permit review and responsible coastal land use planning to mitigate and avoid coastal hazards. • Manage and review applications for coastal hazard mitigation and beach restoration (SSBN). Coastal Lands Program

5. Goals of the Coastal Lands Program • Assist OCCL and other agencies in incorporating the latest scientific data on coastal hazards in coastal land use planning. • Develop and implement beach management projects and research on coastal processes and hazards with other agenciesand UH. • Conduct targeted extension activities to relay current, informative coastal hazard data and recommendations to DLNR, other agencies, and the public. Coastal Lands Program

6. History of Sea Grant Extension and the CLP • 2003 Dolan Eversolehired by Sea Grant and DLNR as a coastal geologist and extension agent. • Focus on implementing COEMAP recommendations, including erosion management alternatives and coastal hazards resiliency. • Problems with state’s shoreline certification and setback procedures soon become apparent. • 2005 Chris Conger hired as Shoreline Specialist – refined shoreline certification approach. • 2010 Dolan moved to Coastal Storms Program, Chris moved up. • 2011 Andy Bohlandermoves from B.I. extension to Shoreline Specialist. • 2012 Chris moves on to Sea Engineering… Coastal Lands Program

7. My Background • 1998 B.S. Physical Geography, UC Santa Barbara • Spec. Earth Science, GIS, Remote Sensing • 2008 M.S. Geology, UH • Spec. Coastal Geology, GIS and Photogrammetry • Project: Historical Shoreline Change: Southeast Oahu • 2009-2012 Sea Grant Graduate Trainee • 2012 PhD (ABD) Geology, UH • Spec. Coastal Geology, GIS in Coastal Science • Dissertation: Historical Shoreline Changes in the Hawaiian Islands Coastal Lands Program

8. The Oahu Shoreline Change Atlas http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/coasts/erosion/ Coastal Lands Program

9. Historical Shoreline Changes in the Hawaiian Islands Fletcher et al. (2012) http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1051/ Coastal Lands Program

10. Erosion Dominates Shoreline Change in Hawaii Region % Eroding Avg. Rate (± 0.01 m/yr) Kauai 71% -0.11 Oahu 60% -0.06 Maui 85% -0.17 All 70% -0.11 Fletcher et al, 2012; Romine et al. 2012 Coastal Lands Program

11. Beach Loss Along Developed Coasts Region % of Beach Lost Km of Beach Lost Kauai 8% 6.0 Oahu 8% 8.7 Maui 11% 6.8 All 9% 21.5 -Nearly all beaches lost were fronting coastal armoring. Fletcher et al, 2012; Romine et al. 2012 Coastal Lands Program

12. Armoring on Eroding Coasts Leads to Beach Narrowing and Loss on Oahu Coastal Lands Program

13. Armoring on Eroding Coasts Leads to Beach Narrowing and Loss on Oahu *% of beach Coastal Lands Program

14. Ongoing Research • Headland beaches are substantially more erosional than embayed beaches on Oahu. • Temporal relations to Late-Holocene and modern sea-level rise • Spatial relations to sand-filled channels in the nearshore reef • Increased beach erosion on Maui related, in part, to higher sea-level rise around Maui. • 85% beach erosion on Maui vs. 71% Kauai, 60% Oahu • Relative sea-level rising 65% faster around Maui (subsidence) • Sea-level is already an important driver of shoreline change. • Implications for shoreline management as sea-level rise increases in this century. Coastal Lands Program

15. Challenges for Coastal Erosion Management in HI • The majority of Hawaii beaches are eroding. • Many miles of beach are substantially narrowed or have been completely lost to erosion, mostly fronting seawalls. • Property and infrastructure is threatened by erosion and inundation. • Will only get worse with increasing sea-level rise and continued economic pressure to develop coastal areas. • Alternatives for managing coastal erosion all have advantages and drawbacks – no one solution statewide. Coastal Lands Program

16. Erosion Management Alternatives Coastal Armoring: Protects property, typically at the expense of the beach Coastal Lands Program

17. Erosion Management Alternatives Temporary Erosion Control Geotextile sand bags. Biodegradable (Coir) bags and blankets Temporaryfix, ‘Band-Aid” Coastal Lands Program

18. Erosion Management Alternatives Beach Replenishment and Beach Maintenance Expensive, limited sand resources, maintenance required Coastal Lands Program

19. Erosion Management Alternatives Let the beach erode? Coastal retreat? willing seller buyout? Legal and financial means do not currently exist. Coastal Lands Program

20. Small Scale Beach Nourishment Program (SSBN) • Streamlined permitting process for nourishment under < 10,000 cy. • Good alternative for individual homeowners and communities. • Compatible beach sand is expensive and in limited quantities. • Requires maintenance, repeat fills. Coastal Lands Program

21. Current SSBN Projects • Stables Rd., Kahului, Maui: on-going monitoring, maintenance • Maui Lu Resort, Kihei, Maui • Poipu Beach Park, Kauai • Kukuiula, Poipu, Kauai Coastal Lands Program

22. CSP 2012 Proposal: Beach Vulnerability Rating(BVR) • Rate beach vulnerability of Oahu beaches to erosion and loss with sea-level rise. • Leverage existing coastal hazards data: erosion maps, ‘blue line’, FEMA FIRM, USGS coastal hazards and new coastal inundation models. • Bridge gap between disparate beach hazard data, planners, and community with targeted outreach • Provide tools to aid coastal land use planners (maps, recommendations) to improve resilience to coastal erosion hazards with sea-level rise. Coastal Lands Program

23. Kailua Beach Management Plan • Continue, build on work by Dolan and Conger. • Survey results. • Accreted lands issues. • Dune management. • MOU for Kailua Beach Park maintenance. Coastal Lands Program

24. Waikiki Beach Management Plan • Recent fill: Kuhio – Royal Hawaiian • Gray’s beach • Ft DeRussy • Natatorium, Kapiolani Park • Need for an integrated management plan for whole of Waikiki beaches. Coastal Lands Program

25. The Future of The Coastal Lands Program • Coastal erosion and hazards management will only become more important and more challenging with increasing sea-level rise in the next few decades. • Must proactively plan for new development and redevelopment to avoid coastal hazards. • Will require cooperation between all stakeholders: federal, state, county, private, public. • Hawaii’s beaches are worth saving: • Hawaii is a tourism-based economy based around beaches. • Beaches are central to Hawaii’s image and culture. • Our children should be able to enjoy and be as inspired by Hawaii’s beaches as we are. Coastal Lands Program

26. SSBN Projects: Maui Lu Resort, Kihei Coastal Lands Program

27. SSBN Projects: Poipu Beach Park, Kauai Coastal Lands Program

28. SSBN Projects: Kukuiula, Poipu, Kauai Coastal Lands Program