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/

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!

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 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 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. 

On the morning of Tuesday, September 19th, Hui O Ka Wai Ola coordinators Dana Reed and Sofia de la Sota met in Kihei to set up the much anticipated South Maui water quality lab at the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. Armloads of boxes containing various equipment and supplies were hauled into the donated lab space. By the end of the day the coordinators had organized the space, water was distilling, batteries were charging, and meters and probes had been calibrated. With phase one of the lab now in place, training completed, and initial sites selected, the volunteers are ready to begin monitoring coastal water quality in South Maui!

The newest group of Hui O Ka Wai Ola water quality volunteers is ready to start monitoring in South  Maui.  This month, 23 new volunteers completed the 12 hour training in the State Department of Health approved technique and protocols for water quality monitoring. Of the new volunteers, 17 will launch the  monitoring program in South Maui, and 6 will join the existing West Maui team.  The expansion to South Maui follows the successful completion of the monitoring program's first year in West Maui, with over 476 samples collected to date.  The South Maui group plans to begin collecting samples in September. ​ Below are some of the things new volunteers had to say when asked if they liked the recent training:

On June 30,  MACZAC  (Marine And Coastal Zone Advocacy Council) selected Hui O Ka Wai Ola as one of the 2017 recipients of the Douglas Tom "Thumbs-Up" Award.  The award is designed to recognize the contributions of organizations in Hawai'i that address these three goals:

1. Advocate for a comprehensive management system which restores, preserves and protects Hawai'i's marine and coastal environment.
2. Advance Hawai'i's Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Program and the Hawai'i Ocean Resources Management Plan: provide for the effective management, beneficial use, protection, and development of the coastal zone.
3. Actively engage community, and especially youth, in their activities.

The Thumbs-Up Award is named for retired long-serving CZM Program Manager, Douglas Tom, whose more than three decades of tireless work on behalf of Hawai'i's natural and cultural resources serves as a model for the MACZAC Thumbs-Up Award recognition effort.

Congratulations Hui Volunteers and Committee Members for all of your hard work recognized, and mahalo nui MACZAC for the award!