Kihei to look at
trucking out algaeA South Maui meeting will
try to find ways to improve efforts
to clean the shoreline
KIHEI >> Removing seaweed has significantly improved a Kihei shoreline, says South Maui resident David Mackwell, a change that may encourage more visitor stays and higher tax county revenues.
"Our beach quality is very much improved," said Mackwell, president of the Waipui- lani Beach Association. State and county officials will meet tomorrow to discuss ways to improve the cleanup of algae that affects residents and visitors, including owners of some 1,500 condominium units.
The public meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Kihei Community Center.
Under a draft plan, the county's seaweed removal machine would continue to operate along a mile of beach between the office of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary and the south end of the Veterans of Foreign Wars property.
To bolster the operation, government officials want to spend most of a $250,000 federal grant to purchase a truck to carry the seaweed to a compost location in Kihei and two loaders to remove seaweed from the truck.
The proposed plan also calls for buying disposable bins for temporarily storing seaweed near the beach.
Zoe Norcross, a Maui agent with the University of Hawaii's Sea Grant Program, said the bins will keep the seaweed from seeping nutrients into the ground and returning them to the nearby sea, encouraging another cycle of growth.
The plan also calls for cleaning only when warranted, rather than on a five-day schedule all year, and calls for restoration of sand dunes.
The main seaweed found along the beach includes the algae Hypnea musciformis, an alien species, and the native species Ulva, officials said.
Several years ago before the county purchased the removal machine, the algae was more than a foot deep in some places and its decomposition left an odor similar to rotting eggs.
At its high point in 1998, 1,000 tons of seaweed were removed, government officials said.
Residents have been paying $50,000 a year mainly to retain a contractor to use the county removal machine on weekdays.
Mackwell said an economic study found that the presence of seaweed was causing owners and the county to lose $2 million in revenue annually, due in part to fewer visitor stays, a reduction in rental rates and reduced property values.
Mackwell said it was in the government's interest to spend money clearing the seaweed.
"I think it can be a real benefit here," he said. "The environment will cost you money, if you don't treat it right."
