Meeting about Wailua Bay shoreline mitigation set for Thursday

For the past four months the Surfrider Foundation Kauaʻi Chapter has been opposing the implementation of “sand savers,” the last of three parts of the Kūhiō Highway Emergency Shoreline Mitigation Project for Wailua Bay.

Sand savers are used as a solution to beach erosion that surpasses traditional accepted methods by breaking down the energy of the surf as waves crash against the modules and directing sand to the beach side of the module through either the surf activity or the large tapered opening on the surf side.

So far, the foundation said it has been able to ensure the state Department of Transportation postponed the contract for this part of the project.

The first two parts are not being opposed and involve strengthening the revetment (retaining wall) below the bike path and installing a dune area with native plants makai of the bike path.

The foundation opposes the third part, which is the installation of 5-foot by 5-foot plastic blocks anchored in concrete to be installed across Wailua Bay in three semi circles, the outer point of which will be 20 feet beyond the shoreline into the ocean. The top edge of these blocks will stick out above the water.

According to the Surfrider Foundation, these blocks will kill all ocean recreation at Wailua Bay including shoreline fishing. They also say shoreline experts believe that large open ocean swells and currents will overpower any benefit these plastic blocks could provide in strengthening the shoreline. They have never been tested in ocean conditions similar to those found in Hawaiʻi.

The Department of Transportation is holding an informational public meeting about this part of the project from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday at the Kūhiō Ballroom of the Hilton Garden Inn at Wailua Bay.

The meeting will go over the project and offer a question-and-answer session.