Beach erosion
frustrates
Mauians

Property owners along a street
in south Maui say they have
been unable to get
government help

By Gary T. Kubota
Star-Bulletin

KIHEI, Maui -- Micky Palmer used to stroll 75 feet across the beach to the ocean.

Forty-three years later, the ocean is right outside her Halama Street property. "There's an 8-foot drop from my house to the ocean," she said.

Palmer blames the county and federal governments for the loss of beach.

Some 50 property owners along the street in south Maui say they have been unable to get government help needed to stop the coastal erosion.

Palmer believes the problem started when the county paid the Navy to blow three holes in the reef for swimming at nearby Kalama Park in 1945, causing currents to shift and take sand from the beach.

Residents say the problem was aggravated in the early 1970s when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a sea wall to prevent coastal erosion at the park, worsening erosion of adjacent properties.

Government officials say while the holes in the reef and sea wall may contribute to the coastal erosion, it's difficult to know to what extent they are causing the beach loss.

"It's a combination of a lot of different factors," said Samuel Lemmo, a senior planner for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Halama Street Association President Robert Colopy said based on informal talks with ocean engineers, his group believes the problem can be solved by designing a series of coves along the shoreline through beach replenishment.

Colopy said the group has been unsuccessful in obtaining money from the county, state or federal government to hire an ocean engineer to design the project and to fund a pilot project.

"What's the runaround? Why don't they come up with the money to repair the damage?" Colopy said.

County and state officials say they are moving forward with beach replenishment projects.

The county is planning a project at a park fronting Ohukai Street in south Maui, and the state is hiring a consultant to select a site for beach replenishment on Maui or Oahu.

Lemmo said the coastline fronting Halama Street may be selected as the site, but that the consultant would be responsible for making the recommendation.

County officials now acknowledge that sea walls contribute to erosion of adjacent properties, and have established a policy to forbid constructing more them.

The county has allowed owners to build temporary walls with sandbags in emergencies when the ocean threatens houses.

Halama Street resident Ron Chapple said he lost 23 feet of beach in two years before he installed the sandbags near his home, now about 50 feet from the ocean.

"We're nervous as hell" each winter during stormy weather, Chapple said.