Community comes together to restore Maunalua Bay

Maunalua Bay in East Oahu is a biological and cultural treasure of Hawaii. It spans from Koko Head Point to Black Point and includes nearly eight miles of shoreline and 6.5 square miles of ocean waters.

With its natural inlet, Maunalua was an ideal location for early settlements and was developed by ancient Hawaiians into a rich fishpond system.

The marine resources in the bay have been steadily declining, including loss of healthy coral reef, native sea grass beds and a variety of reef vertebrates and invertebrates.

Urban development as well as sediment runoff from residential areas is a major source of pollution running into the bay. After just a single moderate four-hour rain storm, Kuliouou Stream delivers between 40-60 tons of dirt to the near shore reef of Maunalua Bay, dumping sediment and pollution that destroys bay fish, marine and coral life.

Thanks to a $59,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to Malama Maunalua, Hawaii businesses and residents can learn how they can help to reduce this ongoing pollution into the bay. Last month, more than 100 volunteers from area school and community groups, along with the City & County of Honolulu, joined to construct a rain garden at the entrance to Koko Head District Park.

The newly completed area includes grading to create a place where runoff can temporarily pond and soak into the earth so that heavy metals, dirt and pollution can be filtered instead of running unfiltered through the storm-drain system into the bay, and plantings with native plants and groundcover to reduce water needs, filter runoff and prevent erosion.

This month also marks the grand opening of a Healthy Watershed Demonstration Project at Koko Marina Shopping Center. Visitors can take self-guided tours of six installations highlighting actions that can be taken both in one’s own home as well as public and commercial areas to make “bay-friendly” choices.

The tour includes three kinds of storm drain and downspout filters that capture everything from heavy metals, oils and grease to dirt, foliage and litter before they can enter the bay.

A nearby rain garden features soil microorganisms and plant roots that capture and break down pollutants, and existing bougainvillea hedge has been replaced with drought-resistant native aalii and native ground cover akulikuli to help retain soil during rain storms.

Malama Maunalua (“caring for Maunalua”) is a community-based stewardship nonprofit created to conserve and restore Maunalua Bay by informing, engaging and empowering our community to take action. The goal of its demonstration projects is to reduce polluted runoff to Maunalua Bay from the more than 20,000 households and six major commercial centers in the region by increasing awareness to influence the behavior of residents, visitors and bay users about the threats to the bay and the need for restoration.

These demonstration sites highlight the fact that taking care of our bay begins on land. Improving water quality by taking actions on land to keep runoff free of dirt and pollutants will allow for the return of healthy coral reefs, fish and other important ecosystems.

Malama Maunalua programs encourage region-wide community volunteer engagement, school and youth participation and partnerships with agencies responsible for infrastructure improvements.

From mauka to makai, we are working to establish a new tradition of caring for and restoring Maunalua’s history of waters abundant with fish and coral, inland fishponds and farms, and people who lived off and cared for the lands and the waters.