Jennifer Vander Veur

Delineate, Designate, and Demonstrate Stream Riparian Buffers in Wahikuli, West Maui

2020

Coral Reef Alliance

"West Maui has been designated a priority conservation site by state and federal governments in an effort to address land-based pollution and corresponding declines in coral cover. Several West Maui Watershed plans identify erosion from degraded agricultural fields, dirt roads, and areas of bare soil as major threats to nearby coral reefs. The Wahikuli-Honokowai Watershed Management Plan recommended a number of management strategies to address the issue of sedimentation. Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) has been implementing these recommendations in the first phase of a long-term project to restore the Wahikuli and Honokowai midslope streams. In 2016, CORAL facilitated a Stream Restoration Knowledge Sharing Group to identify a suite of best management practices (BMPs) that can be executed to achieve this goal. After a reconnaissance survey identified road kickouts as significant contributors of sediment to the stream gulch, CORAL began to address 20 problematic kickouts in the Wahikuli and Honokowai watersheds utilizing a combination of BMPs. In this project, we expanded the effectiveness of previously installed sediment traps in road kickouts by creating and restoring a riparian buffer approximately 1,500 feet long within the Wahikuli Watershed. Creating and restoring this riparian buffer will not only have direct near-term benefits on water quality, but will also demonstrate how this approach can be applied to solve sedimentation issues across West Maui. To inform future efforts, we measured the effectiveness of our restoration efforts, the results of which are shared through a report and a story map. We also used our project learnings to secure the restoration and protection of riparian buffer setbacks in West Maui by recommending their formal designation in the 2018-2019 West Maui Community Plan."

watershed, watershed management, best management practices, restoration, riparian buffer, Hawaii, West Maui

NOS

OCM

FY2020 CRCP Project ID 31209; Project Title: FY18 - Domestic Coral Reef Conservation Grants; Principal Investigator: Liz Fairey; Grant NA18NOS4820112.

NA18NOS4820112