Blog Posts

Maui Preparatory School Students Participate in Water Quality Testing Program

2/3/2020

Our ocean water quality testing program, Hui O Ka Wai Ola, is made possible through the dedication of more than 35 adult volunteers who monitor water quality at 41 local beaches every three weeks.

And now, we're excited to report a new water quality monitoring partnership with students from Maui Preparatory Academy, reports James Strickland, Project Manager for Hui O Ka Wai Ola.

Eight middle school students are conducting turbidity sampling in Napili Bay as part of their Project Based Learning program. Based on student input, they have sectioned off the bay into four 250 foot increments and are sampling each of the four sites at two depths (2 feet and 6 feet).

We're grateful for these students and their dedication to monitoring ocean water quality, as a step toward achieving cleaner ocean water for Maui's coastlines.

Maui Preparatory Academy students Bishop Worth, Carter Bozich, Caroline Martin and Mayson Miles help monitor ocean water quality at Napili Bay through the Hui O Ka Wai Ola ocean water quality monitoring program.

Watch the Hui's West Maui Data Presentation!

8/2/2019

Members of Hui O Ka Wai Ola took a deep dive into West Maui's water quality data during a free public presentation at Lahainaluna High School on July 30, 2019. You can watch the Akakū recording here!
Photo credit: Dakota Grossman

Hui On The Radio....

7/2/2019

You can listen to Tova Callender, Alana Yurkanin, and James Strickland of Hui O Ka Wai Ola share about South Maui water quality findings on KAOI's July 2 radio show on station 96.7. Mahalo Don Couch and Jack Gist for a great conversation! Listen here.

Our Coastal Water Quality Report is here!!!

5/31/2019

Click on the Report Photo to access Hui O Ka Wai Ola's Coastal Water Quality Report (2016 to 2018)! This report shares our mission, methods, findings, next steps, and most importantly, our thanks for all the ways the Maui community, donors, and funders have helped bring our partnership this far. We are seeing some compelling findings that will help address sources of pollution and poor water quality along Maui's coastline so the quality of life for people and nature may improve and persist. Want to learn more? Check out our report!

Hui O Ka Wai Ola is the  Recipient of Funds Raised at September Meeting of  “100+ Women Who Care – Maui”

10/12/2018

Michelle Griffoul, a volunteer with the Hui O Ka Wai Ola water quality testing program and board member of Maui Nui Marine Resource Council, beams after learning that the water quality testing program would receive the donations collected at the September meeting of 100+ Women Who Care - Maui.

Hui O Ka Wai Ola was awarded $12,500 in funds raised at the September 2018 meeting of “100+ Women Who Care – Maui,” a group that holds quarterly meetings to raise funds for local nonprofits, charities and causes.

According to the 100+ Women Who Care – Maui website, the group’s members meet four times each year, with each meeting lasting one hour. Each member (and their guest) brings a check for $100 or more. Any member can nominate local charities, non-profits, or worthy causes, whose names are put into a hat. Three names are drawn at random. The group then votes by secret ballot to choose one of the organizations or causes to support, with a collective donation that typically amounts to $10,000 or more.

Michelle Griffoul, a member of 100+ Women Who Care – Maui and a board member of Maui Nui Marine Resource Council, nominated the organization’s Hui O Ka Wai Ola (Association of Living Waters) ocean water quality testing program. She spoke from the heart about her firsthand experience as a volunteer with this innovative monitoring program, which works with dozens of local volunteers to regularly test ocean water quality at 39 locations along the south and west coastlines of Maui.

The members voted by secret ballot and selected Maui Nui Marine Resource Council as the recipient of the funds raised at the meeting.

“We’re grateful to all of the community-minded women in this group who chose to support our Hui O Ka Wai Ola water quality testing program,” says Robin Newbold, MNMRC co-founder and chair. “Maui Nui Marine Resource Council is proud to be a co-manager of this unique program and we are grateful for all in our community who make it possible. Clean ocean water is essential for healthy coral reefs. It’s also important to visitors and residents who enjoy swimming, snorkeling, diving, paddling, fishing and surfing along Maui’s coasts,” said Newbold. “Our ocean water quality testing program and the data it generates is critical in our work for clean ocean water for Maui.”  

 To learn more about 100 Women Who Care – Maui, please visit https://100womenwhocaremaui.org

Watch a Hui O Ka Wai Ola Webinar hosted by the Reef Resilience Network!

6/29/2018

A recording is available from the June 20th Reef Resilience Webinar hosting the good work of Hui O Ka Wai Ola! Check it out at: http://www.reefresilience.org/upcoming-citizen-science-to-improve-hawaii-water-quality/

Update to Hui O Ka Wai Ola and DOH sample sites!

6/25/2018

The Hawai'i Department of Health (DOH) has monitored 18 Tier 1 sites weekly for basic water quality parameters and bacteria since the end of 2017. Some of these sites have also been monitored by Hui O Ka Wai Ola, who collected additional nutrient data (nitrogen and phosphorus compounds) along with turbidity and other basic physical parameters. DOH is now collecting all of the parameters that Hui O Ka Wai Ola collects and more (Enterococcus, Clostridium and Chlorophyll A) at these 18 DOH Tier 1 sites!

This allows Hui O Ka Wai Ola to discontinue monitoring at the following 8 DOH Tier 1 sites, since our efforts are no longer needed:

Launiupoko Beach Park
Airport (Kahekili) Beach
DT Fleming Beach Park
Mile Marker 14
Kama'ole Beach I
Kama'ole Beach III
Wailea Beach
Mākena Beach Shoreline

Volunteer Jim collecting a sample at Launiupoko. Photo: Bruce Forrester

The Hui can now look to adopt additional sites elsewhere, or utilize this excess effort to expand our program in other ways. You can see updates to our monitoring locations on our Data Page. The Hui will continue to monitor two Tier 1 sites to use as Quality Assurance for our nutrient data, but this will only be for a short time until we determine that our results are in line with DOH results:

Hanaka'ō'ō (Canoe Beach)
Cove Park

Kudos to the DOH for almost doubling the number of Tier 1 sites on Maui from 10 to 18 in the last year. The addition of nutrient parameters to the Tier 1 sites is incredibly beneficial for all the environmental work being done on the island of Maui by watershed partnerships. This incredible effort and dedication to gathering comprehensive and quality assured data for Maui's beach goers and marine life by the DOH is greatly appreciated! To view DOH's data, please visit: cwb.doh.hawaii.gov/CleanWaterBranch/WaterQualityData/default.aspx.

A New Cohort of Water Quality Monitors!

2/19/2018

A volunteer training was held on February 12 and 13 for 12 new volunteers to join the Clean Ocean Team and monitor water quality with Hui O Ka Wai Ola! Volunteers completed the 12-hour training using State Department of Health approved techniques and protocols for water quality monitoring under the QAPP. Of the new volunteers, most will help expand the monitoring effort in South Maui. Congratulations and mahalo to our new team members!
Photos: Bruce Forrester

Hui O Ka Wai Ola Featured in the National Water Quality Monitoring Council's Fall Newsletter!

2/1/2018

The National Water Quality Monitoring Council was created in 1997 as a vehicle for bringing together diverse expertise needed to develop collaborative, comparable, and cost-effective approaches for monitoring and assessing our Nation’s water quality. Hui O Ka Wai Ola is featured in their Fall 2017 newsletter on page 13 - check it out!

Pictured: Volunteers Ty Freiberg and Marie Schroeder demonstrate how to filter samples for nutrient analysis in west Maui.

Expanding again: Water quality testing program to add 12 more South Maui sites

1/31/2018

Volunteers collecting coastal water quality nutrient samples at our new South Maui sites!

Last November, our Hui O Ka Wai Ola ocean water quality testing program expanded to include 12 South Maui shoreline locations. We're expanding AGAIN in February to add another 12 sites. This brings the total to 24 locations in South Maui. These new sites will be tested every two weeks for six months, then every three weeks thereafter. New volunteers will be participating in a training program on February 12 and 13. We have 12 new volunteers signed up, with room for 16 volunteers total. In all, Hui O Ka Wai Ola will be testing a total of 48 locations in West and South Maui by the end of February. Hui O Ka Wai Ola (Association of Living Waters) is a partnership of Maui Nui Marine Resource Council, The Nature Conservancy, West Maui Ridge to Reef Initiative and University of Hawaii Maui College in collaboration with the State of Hawai'i Department of Health.

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