After months of delay, the state says it hopes to install buoys at Ala Moana Beach Park before the end of the year to create separate areas for stand-up paddleboarders and swimmers.

The plan to separate the two groups was announced in May, after tensions between swimmers and paddleboarders reached a head. But short staffing at the state Department of Land and Natural Resources pushed back the in-house project, which includes the installation of at least 10 buoys in the water to create two corridors that will run parallel to the shoreline.

The lane farthest from the beach will be for paddleboarders. The inner lane will be for swimmers.

"We just want all of the users to get along," said Meghan Statts, Oahu district manager for the DLNR boating division, adding that more could be done if the buoys don't resolve the tensions.

"It's a work in progress," she said.

The buoys will be installed about 80 feet offshore, in 11- to 14-foot waters.

A DLNR dive team will survey the site before installing the buoys.

Statts said the buoys will be PVC foam-filled pipes anchored by concrete-filled tires. Signage will also be posted.

Larry Hurst, chairman of the Ala Moana/Kakaako Neighborhood Board, said the buoys sound like a good compromise. "I think that's a good idea," he said, as long as people stay in their designated areas. "There's going to be people who don't honor that," he said.

The state announced the buoy plan during a public meeting in May with swimmers and paddleboarders. Officials had hopes to have the buoys in place within two months, or at least before summer's end. But the project was delayed when a DLNR diver went on medical leave.

DLNR officials say the number of stand-up paddleboarders at Ala Moana Beach Park has increased substantially over the last two years. So has the number of complaints, Statts said, as paddleboarders compete for space (just inside the reef) traditionally used by swimmers. The tensions arose following collisions and near-misses.

So far, Statts said, Ala Moana is the only beach where significant problems have occurred.