[ OUR OPINION ]
Replenishing Kuhio Beach
won’t be a one-time fix
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That's why state officials are eager to find a cheaper way to replace sand because the effort to maintain the picture-book Waikiki shoreline tourists so desire will be a continual process, much like repaving roads and mowing the grass in parks. Taxpayers also should realize that sand replacement will be a constant expense.
State officials are planning to pump 10,000 cubic yards of sand on to Kuhio Beach from an underwater site 2,000 feet offshore. Surfers worry that when the sand washes away -- and it will -- it will settle in areas that will alter shorebreaks and destroy the waves they ride.
To appease them, a coastal geologist tested the waters this week by releasing dye and monitoring its drift. George Downing, a veteran surfer and spokesman for Save Our Surf, correctly pointed out that sand won't necessary go with the dye's flow. However, the geologist, Dolan Eversole, insists the experiment proves the sand won't be deposited on a reef and affect wave action.
Not to question Eversole's expertise, but nature is the ultimate decision-maker, and while tests may indicate general current movement, there's no way to rule out other ocean patterns under different conditions.
The $500,000 project will be the largest addition of sand to Kuhio Beach in 32 years. Since the 1950s, about a quarter of a million cubic yards of sand has been added, but erosion continues to narrow the beach by about a foot a year. A city beautification project that widened makai sidewalks and added grass and landscaping further constricted the sand.
At one time, the Waikiki shoreline was mostly rocky, but as it grew into a tourist destination, a half-mile-long sandy beach was lengthened by about a mile. It has become the symbol of Hawaii for visitors. As such, state officials as well as the tourism industry say that even if sand has to be replaced every two or three years, it is a necessary investment for the state's biggest revenue producer.
Previous efforts have been made to slow nature's course at Waikiki and other shoreline areas. Seawalls and groins have done little but shift erosion elsewhere. Earlier replenishments required buying and trucking in sand from other places, an expensive undertaking, and officials hope that pumping offshore material on shore will reduce costs.
Looking for more practical and cheaper solutions is fine, but the public and state officials must acknowledge that keeping beaches sandy will be an endless task with a running financial toll and that nature will be the final arbiter.
