COM 0493.054 2000-2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

According to the Department of Land ~ Natural Resources, Kealakekua gay is considered to be one of, if not the most. histor.~call~r si~nificant„places inin Hawaa'i. this is because Kealakekua was one of the major royal centers of Kona in the late pre-contact period, it was the site of the earliest extensive contact between Westerners (Captain Cook) and the Hawaiians in 1779 that resulted in much of our knowledge about the Hawaiian culture at the time of contact, and there are many archaeological sites intact from the pre-contact and post-contact periods as a result of limited modern development on the lands surrounding the bay.... While the 2.16 acres of Kealakekua State Historical Park encompass this historically significant complex, the surrounding lands provide the historical setting and cultural landscape for understanding and interpreting the historical events and Iawaiian traditions of Kealakekua Bay. (Internal Memorandum, August 16, 2000; emphasis added) Any development at Keopuka threatens these resources, including water quality, corals, marine life, and the state park. Soil runoff from the Fdokulia Project, just north of Keopuka, damaged thousands of yards of corals, according to DLNR. According to DLNR, Findings by DLNR aquatic biologists are raising serious concerns about potential damage to the I~ig.~.sland's coral reef resources, from sediment runoff into the ocean earlier this month from a site being developed near Kealakekua Bay. The Hokulia residentiallgolf course project, located approximately 2 miles north of Kealakekua Bay, is presently under construction by 1250 Oceanside Partners. Considerable land clearing, road building, and golf course development has gone on for about a year. . The team inspected the reef fronting the project at a spot with sediment still suspended in the water, just south of Kalukalu Bay, within the Red 1-Ii11 Fisheries Management .Area and close to the Red Hill Fish Repleaushment Area. Visibility declined, and dark brown sediment was immediately obvious . At 30 feet, stickv Anud covered much of the bottom aften more than an in..4:h deep, to as dee~a as 3 ine es.... Some fish were observed in the area, but fewer than is typical for this general location. In deeper water (to 50 feet), sediment remained heavy. Corals there appeared to be much more severely impacted than, in shallow waters. Mud covered portions of many corals, especially colonies of lobe coral, Porites lobate. When the sediment was "fanned" off these corals, the underlying polyps were bleached white, appearing dead. A number of other corals, including finger coral, Porites compressa, had similar patches of dead tissue. Welsh's report concludes, "Sedimentation to the extent we observed appears neither typical nor natural along the Kona coast: in 2S years of diving in Kona, I have never seen such intense siltation, even after storms producing much more rainfall. t,~.ssoS:iati~n with construction aet~vi~,es at H~kulia is unavoidable. (Department of Land ~ Natural Resources press release, September 29, 2000).