Photo shows the collapsing north bathroom platform at Kahaluʻu Beach Park from testimony submitted by Blue Ocean

(BIVN) – Two bills at the Hawaiʻi State Legislature that will help fund the effort to restore Kahaluʻu Beach Park are advancing through committee.

On Tuesday, the House Committee on Water & Land gave a positive recommendation to HB2143. On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Water & Land advanced the companion legislation, SB2057, after a hearing on Monday.

Both measures seek to appropriate matching funds for a grant-in-aid to the County of Hawaiʻi “to hire an engineering firm to study, plan, assist, and conduct preliminary design and concept work for a two-phase project to” restore the Kahaluʻu Beach Park.

“I believe that Kahaluʻu Beach Park is an important gathering place for the community of Kailua-Kona, but it is falling apart,” wrote 10-year-old Solomon Herbert, who lives near the beach and is learning to surf there. “In the central area of the beach park, there is a roped off and rusting pavilion that is pounded by sea spray on a daily basis. This pavilion appears to be dangerous in its current condition and needs to be repaired.”

From the language of the bills:

Kahalu‘u bay has historically been regarded as a sacred place to Native Hawaiians, adorned with heiau, fishponds, and barrier rock walls that provided for better fishing conditions for hunter-gatherers in the area. Due to its historic nature and popularity among visitors, there have been recent efforts by the county of Hawai‘i, in partnership with the Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center, to preserve the beach park for future generations through the promotion of reef-friendly practices. The legislature finds that, thanks to the tireless advocacy of the education center, Kahalu‘u bay was designated as a Mission Blue Hope Spot in 2022, demonstrating how smaller bays can integrate networks powered by modern technology with traditional knowledge to care for these places. In 2023, the Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center further illustrated its reliability as a governmental partner through its Visitor Parking Fee Pilot Project in partnership with the county of Hawaiʻi, which requires all out-of-state visitors to pay a parking fee in four-hour intervals from 7:00 a.m. through 7:00 p.m. daily with revenues directed towards ongoing protection, stewardship, and restoration of the natural and cultural resources at Kahalu‘u beach park.

The legislature also finds that the Kahaluʻu Bay Education Center’s efforts have greatly benefited Kahalu‘u beach’s marine and coastal ecosystem. However, they do not shield the beach park from the impacts of global warming. Thus, during the 2021 Regular Session, the senate adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 52, S.D. 1 (2021), which requested the department of land and natural resources and the county of Hawai‘i to collaborate to identify sea level rise at Kahalu‘u bay to avoid further deterioration and damage caused by rising sea levels. The resulting interagency Kahalu‘u bay restoration working group, comprised of state and county officials, as well as community leaders, have been planning for the restoration of Kahalu‘u beach park. The legislature believes that the group’s findings warrant a prioritization of Hawai‘i island’s overall coastal planning, as well as the need for a sea level rise study and coastal engineering input to help guide the planning process. The legislature further believes that as a public resource with intergovernmental jurisdictions, the restoration of Kahalu‘u beach park should be a state and county partnership and can serve as a model for the restoration of other public natural resources throughout the State.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to provide matching grant-in-aid funds to the county of Hawai‘i to hire an engineering firm to study, plan, assist, and conduct preliminary design and concept work for a two-phase project to restore the Kahalu‘u beach park in the county of Hawai‘i.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources is in support of the bills, because the restoration project aligns with recommendations made in the 2022 Hawaiʻi Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Report Update. Specifically, recommendations to “enable beaches to persist with sea level rise,” to “preserve Native Hawaiian culture and communities with sea level rise,” and to “promote collaboration and accountability for adapting to sea level rise.”

“We believe that to make wise conservation and development investment decisions, we need current information about the forces affecting the bay’s marine structure, how those forces are affecting the terrestrial landscape now, and how they are likely to do so in the future”, wrote Cindi Punihaole, the director of Kahaluʻu Bay Projects under The Kohala Center, in support of the bills. The Kohala Center has taken a leadership role in the care of the Bay. “With good data and a carefully crafted master plan, existing educational and stewardship activities can be most effective while future developments to the park facilities and regulations about park and bay use can maximize the potential for conservation and restoration,” Punihaole wrote.