Hawai'i Kai Marina dredging approved

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Bureau

HAWAI'I KAI — After eight years of debate, the Hawai'i Kai Marina Association finally has the authority to begin dredging at the mouth of the marina.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources Board granted permission last month to the association to dredge the clogged channel mouth under the Kalaniana'ole Highway bridge. Work could begin as early as September or October, said Jaap Suyderhoud, Hawai'i Kai Marina Association vice president.

While the marina is privately owned by the association, the waterway under the Kalaniana'ole Highway bridge is owned by the state.

The boating community has been pushing for the state to clear the channels ever since the Legislature appropriated $240,000 to dredge under the bridge and 200 yards out into Maunalua Bay in 1993.

The state awarded a dredging contract in 1998, but residents objected to the plans, which called for removing about 6,500 cubic yards of sand to open one of the channels under the bridge, putting the sand on the Portlock side of the shoreline and creating a sandbag groin on the ocean side of the marina to prevent sand from shifting. The association will now proceed with that work as well as dredging an additional 1,000 cubic yards inside the marina.

Second-generation resident Marshall Rosa filed a petition last year seeking a contested case hearing, a quasi-judicial proceeding, because he said not enough study was done to assess the effect the dredging will have on the entire bay, from Maunalua to Paiko Lagoon. He could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The land board on July 13 issued its decision to let the association proceed with the dredging with a few conditions, Suyderhoud said. The association is required to put $75,000 in trust for future maintenance of the channel and pay the state $40,000 for an easement under the bridge.

In the years since the dredging was proposed, sand has clogged the channels, reducing access to one lane and forcing recreational and commercial boaters to compete for space with kayakers and canoe paddlers.

Now the last barriers have been removed, Suyderhoud said.

"We have waited a long time," he said. "Our whole boating community is happy about this."

The dredging should take 30 days, Suyderhoud said. Boater Chuck Johnston said the dredging will improve conditions in the marina, particularly water quality.

"It will provide better flushing of the marina,"Johnston said. "I've been worried about that for years."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.