Water Quality Testing Program Expands to South Maui!

Exciting news! Our volunteer-based water quality testing program, Hui O Ka Wai Ola (Association of the Living Waters), expanded on November 7 to include 12 South Maui shoreline locations. We'll be expanding it again soon to include a total of 24 locations in South Maui. These new sites will be tested every two weeks for six months, then every three weeks thereafter.

​The Hui O Ka Wai Ola water quality testing program began in West Maui in June of 2016 under the supervision of Dana Reed, Chair of Maui Nui Marine Resource Council's Clean Water Committee, with support from Maui County’s Office of Economic Development (OED) and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF).  In West Maui, volunteers and their team leaders currently test 24 shoreline locations from the Pali to Honolua Bay with support from NFWF and the North Beach West Maui Benefit Fund.

Sofia de la Sota, Hui O Ka Wai Ola South Maui Regional Coordinator and Team Leader, prepares testing kits with Dana Reed, Chair of MNMRC's Clean Water Committee and West Maui Regional Coordinator of Hui O Ka Wai Ola.

Hui O Ka Wai Ola is a partnership of Maui Nui Marine Resource Council (MNMRC), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), West Maui Ridge to Reef (R2R) Initiative and University of Hawaii Maui College in collaboration with the State of Hawaii Department of Health (DOH).

Hui O Ka Wai Ola is the first community-based water quality monitoring program in the State that periodically measures turbidity (a measure of water clarity) and nutrients (such as nitrogen and phosphorous) in near shore ocean waters and makes this data available to the public. "Our goal is to support the Department of Health and Maui County efforts to improve coastal water quality so that coral reefs and native fish populations thrive, and our residents and visitors are safe,” said Robin Newbold, Co-founder and Chair of MNMRC.  “We want to help identify problem areas, so remedial action may be taken as needed.”

To fund the expansion to South Maui, MNMRC worked with TNC and R2R to obtain a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) grant. The grant provides matching funds to an award from Maui County OED. With this funding, the program was able to purchase water quality testing equipment and supplies and hired Sofia de la Sota as the new South Maui Regional Coordinator for Hui O Ka Wai Ola. North Beach West Maui Benefit Fund, Napili Bay and Beach Foundation and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation provide funding for the West Maui program. 

Listen to a recent interview with Dana Reed about the ​expansion of ​Hui O Ka Wai Ola
​on HPR's The Conversation.