The state has kicked off the environmental review process for a project to restore heavily eroded portions of Waikiki Beach, but work to bring in sand to widen the state's most famous coastline likely won't start until 2011.

The project to help tackle the gradual disappearance of Waikiki Beach is planned as the first modern erosion abatement project in Waikiki that the state will undertake with funding help from hotels — in what some hope could become a model for addressing erosion at destination beaches statewide.

The work comes as the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel is planning its own project to create a sandy beach in front of the hotel, where a beach is now only visible during very low tide, and as hotel industry and state officials agree that sand replenishment is long overdue for portions of Waikiki Beach.

"Waikiki Beach ... was constructed in the 1930s, '40s, '50s and '60s. It's basically a manufactured beach," said Sam Lemmo, administrator for the state Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands. "I've always complained to everybody who will listen that it's something that we built and just kind of walked away from. It's like constructing something and not maintaining it. It's not only not responsible, it's dangerous."

Lemmo added that sections of Waikiki Beach are in "terrible" shape.

On a recent weekday, the beach in front of the Royal Hawaiian was jammed — with tourists and residents filing up just about every inch of sand.

Bill Puchana, 31, of Grand Rapids, Mich., said he was a little surprised at the size of the beach when he got to Waikiki.

"I thought it'd be bigger," he said, as he sat on a beach chair under an umbrella, looking out over the shoreline. "It's a little too crowded."

But not everyone sees a problem.

Idaho resident Steven Hess, 62, said he likes the beach as is.

"If this is what you're looking for, it's a nice beach," he said.

Last month, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources issued a $500,000 contract to Sea Engineering to conduct an environmental assessment for a sand replenishment project, come up with a short- and long-term sand maintenance plan for the beach, apply for permits and oversee other portions of the project.

The $500,000 comes from a 2007 legislative appropriation aimed at addressing the condition of the beach. The governor released the appropriation last year.

The stretch of beach the state is seeking to replenish runs from Kuhio Beach to just diamondhead of the Royal Hawaiian.

It's unclear how much the sand replenishment will cost.

Lemmo has estimated that it could cost $30 million or more to restore the length of the beach.

For the project under way, DLNR is expecting to get as much as $4 million from Waikiki hotels. The agency will chip in about $1.5 million, and is also anticipating a match from the Hawai'i Tourism Authority.

That matching contribution might not be a sure thing, however.

HTA President and Chief Executive Lloyd Unebasami said the agency set aside $2 million for the beach replenishment in fiscal year 2009, which ended June 30, following a bill that sought the funding and asked that hotels also pitch in.

But he said the money was returned to the department's operating budget shortly after the fiscal year started because of the state's worsening budget crunch.

The sand replenishment now being studied would be the first for Waikiki since 2006, when the state spent $475,000 on a pilot project to pump 9,500 cubic yards of offshore sand onto Kuhio Beach — along about one-third of a mile of shoreline between the Duke Kahanamoku statue and the Kapahulu groin.

The state hopes to wrap up the environmental review for the new project by early next year. Crews could start pumping sand in as early as January or February 2011, after the state gets all needed permits and works out a construction schedule that won't displace beachgoers during peak travel times.

Officials say restoring the beach will cost less than doing nothing.

And that assertion was bolstered last year, when a study showed the disappearance of Waikiki Beach because of erosion could cost the tourism industry nearly $2 billion annually in lost visitor spending.

Murray Towill, president of the Hawai'i Hotel & Lodging Association, said the project under way, which will seek private dollars to help widen the beach, could provide a model for other beach restoration projects statewide.

"Obviously, (Waikiki Beach) ... is a huge asset," he said.

He added that the erosion problems in Waikiki are "serious."

That has already spurred one hotel to take beach restoration into its own hands. The Sheraton Waikiki is seeking permits to pump sand onto Gray's Beach, in front of the hotel, and build three T-shaped rock groins in the water to keep the sand in place. Sheraton Waikiki owner Kyo-ya Hotels and Resorts has estimated the work will cost $3 million to $4 million.