Changes are underway for the Waikiki Beach Improvement and Maintenance Program, an extensive plan being developed to replenish and stabilize deteriorated beaches and shoreline structures bordering Fort DeRussy, the Halekulani and Royal Hawaiian hotels, and Kuhio Beach.
In the most recent development, the state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) has transferred major responsibilities for the beach program to the Department of Business, Economic Development &Tourism (DBEDT), including administration of the plan’s “final programmatic environmental impact statement” (FPEIS), as well as managing applications and the review process for a myriad of required permits.
Waikiki Beach is not truly a “natural” place; rather, it has been largely created by massive sand importation, extensive placement of sea walls, and dredging of swimming hollows and boating channels, in actions stretching back decades before Hawaii’s statehood. Its transformation has always been tightly connected to Waikiki’s development as a tourist mecca. Therefore, it’s right that DBEDT, with its focus on economic development, should have a place in planning for the future.
With this change, DBEDT must act to connect beach replenishment and stability projects with federal funding that is available to address sea-level rise and global warming — both major issues that Waikiki and all of Hawaii must confront, plan for and act on in the coming decades.
Sea level rise and its expected impact on Waikiki’s shorelines have been incorporated in planning, by mandate of legislation signed by then-Gov. David Ige in 2018. However, the current outflow of federal dollars to assist states in managing coastlines for “climate adaptation and resilience,” current Biden administration priorities, is a more recent development. Planning that capitalizes on these dollars must be incorporated.
Further, potential Waikiki design changes are being contemplated, according to the DLNR — but what they are hasn’t yet been revealed, and neither has a new timeline for projects to begin. But time is of the essence: For one, it’s not guaranteed that the federal administration beyond 2024 will continue to push for climate resiliency funding. For another, support from Hawaii’s Legislature and administration must be marshaled. The state has partnered with the Waikiki Beach Special Improvement District Association, which contributes to costs, but the question of whether Waikiki’s tourism industry is paying a fair share for improvements that largely benefit its interests must be carefully considered.
DBEDT will need to move apace, even though it only recently assumed management of the FPEIS and permit application process. DBEDT Director Jimmy Tokioka told the Star-Advertiser that on July 5, DLNR approached DBEDT with a request that DBEDT “collaborate,” and within 10 days, the departments had agreed that DBEDT would take the lead on these responsibilities.
The punt to DBEDT comes hot on the heels of a June 30 lapse in more than $11 million approved by the Legislature for DLNR to oversee the Waikiki Beach improvement program. Though the money is expected to be reallocated, the lapse, delay in submitting an FPEIS, which had been targeted for completion this year, and acknowledgment that changes are being considered strongly indicate that a state reset, refocus and more scrutiny are due.
There are mountains of paperwork and bureaucracy attached to the complex issue of rebuilding or, in some cases, shaping anew, Waikiki’s beaches, so the division of labor for moving a program forward could prove expeditious.
What’s important now is to press forward and build momentum without paying short shrift to community feedback and environmental effects of contemplated projects. Economic vitality, tourist safety and enjoyment, preservation of Waikiki’s famous surf breaks and effects on coastal habitats must be balanced against the growing threats posed by global warming and sea level rise.
