Hanalei River watershed
program gets EPA grant
The Hanalei Heritage River Program on Kauai has been selected to receive $700,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency for watershed improvements.
The organization is one of 20 watershed projects from throughout the country to receive funding from a new EPA Watershed Initiative. The Hanalei Heritage River Program will use the funds for ecological restoration, community development and historic and cultural preservation in the Hanalei River valley.
Hanalei is the only watershed selected from the Pacific Islands that make up the EPA's Pacific Southwest Region. The EPA received nominations of 176 watersheds from the 50 states, territories and tribal areas.
"The Hanalei Heritage River Program is demonstrating that through cooperation, communities can successfully address critical water quality problems," said Catherine Kuhlman, acting director for the EPA's water division for the Pacific-Southwest region.
Among the projects planned for the Hanalei watershed are: replacing area cesspools that contaminate river and ground water; improving agricultural practices to reduce sediment runoff; and monitoring the effect of these changes on the coral reefs and fish populations.
The Hanalei River was designated an American Heritage River in 1998.
The EPA's Watershed Initiative program is providing a total of $15 million in assistance to state and local communities for inland and coastal watersheds. The goal is to improve existing watershed coalitions.