Recent Updates On Monday, September 18th, 2017 at 1:30 PM the County Council’s Infrastructure & Environmental Management (IEM) Committee will meet once again to discuss and possibly vote to pass a sand mining moratorium bill out of committee. Stand up for ʻiwi kūpuna and our environment –
Stand up for ʻiwi kūpuna and our environment – come testify in support of the moratorium (County Council Chambers – 8th Floor, 200 S. High St., Wailuku) or send your testimony to iem.committee@mauicounty.us
Maui Sand being Exported to Oahu, on the sand Barge in Kahului Harbor
2006 Report The Maui Inland Sand Resource Quantification Study prepared for the County of Maui Department of Public Works and Environmental Management is now posted on the County of Maui website athttp://www.mauicounty.gov under “New Additions.” “The information contained in the study verifies
In Hawai’i and the Pacific, taking care of the islands’ coastal resources is critical to people’s livelihoods, lifestyles, and general well-being. More effective resource management will ensure sustainable use of these resources while providing long term benefits to Hawai’i residents, as well as ensuring a quality visitor experience. Ninety percent of Hawai’i’s plants and animals, more than10,000 species, exist nowhere else on Earth. The only tropical rainforests in the U.S. are found in Hawai’i, as well as 84 percent of all coral reefs under U.S. jurisdiction. There is no private ownership of coastal resources. Hawai’i’s beaches, its nearshore reefs, the ocean, and all that impact them from land, are at the heart of its appeal and an annual economy that accounts for more than $10 billion in
tourism revenues. Hawai’i is also steeped in an ancient cultural heritage that reflects a life-affirming relationship with the islands’ landscape, native species and ecological processes. At the same time, attempts to protect delicate ecosystems are balanced with increasingly overpopulated coastlines and unharnessed business development.
Maui’s pristine beaches and vast inland sand dune system are threatened as a booming construction industry digs out tons of sand to mix for concrete. Jesse Hardman reports on the the fight on the popular Hawaiian island over the precious resource.
Rob Parsons says more than 2 million tons of inland sand is excavated every year, and the majority of it isn’t even used locally, but gets shipped off to Honolulu.
‘Beach-quality sand’ discovered as erosion reaches ‘crisis’ level | News, Sports, Jobs – Maui News
Jun 5, 2016
KAHANA BAY – Maui County shoreline planners are “elated” after discovering more than 300,000 cubic yards of “beach-quality sand” off Kahana Bay, which could replenish the beachfronts of numerous condominiums that have been slowly disappearing into the ocean.
However, the discovery may be too little, too late.
Over 60 years of sand exports are depleting Maui’s finite sand Stocks. Here is a picture of the “sand Barge” that departs to Oahu about twice a week (96 barges per year in 2005). Massive amounts of sand are taken from an inland quarry, and trucked in huge convoys to Kahului harbor, where is is loaded onto a massive Sand Barge and then shipped out fast. It is estimated that we are running out of sand, possibly within 5-7 years. When that happens we will have no local land based sand supply left for beach restoration projects or other needs in the future. The rate of Maui sand exports is accelerating, possibly because these people fear that their permits would be revoked when people discover the magnitude of this problem.
Mr. ROB PARSONS (Environment Coordinator, Maui County) says more than 2 million tons of inland sand is excavated every year, and the majority of it isn’t even used locally, but gets shipped off to Honolulu.
Mr. PARSONS: In fiscal year ’04, the Harbor Master said the sand barge left Kahului for Oahu 61 times. The following year, fiscal year ’05, it left 96 times. To me, that’s a dramatic and even shocking increase.
Maui Sand being Exported to Oahu, on the sand Barge in Kahului Harbor
2006 Report The Maui Inland Sand Resource Quantification Study prepared for the County of Maui Department of Public Works and Environmental Management is now posted on the County of Maui website athttp://www.mauicounty.gov under “New Additions.” “The information contained in the study verifies
