How much damage can one person do? Look at this!

[Shaka Doug]

A minor car accident turned into a disaster for the reef today at Makena Landing. Someone ran into the Fire Hydrant there and popped the top off. This is what it looks like when hundreds of thousands of gallons of water run off shore onto the reef. This was only about five minutes into it. It took the County Workers over an hour to respond and shut off the water. The entire bay was filled with silt by then. It was, and is, very sad... Here's a video I shot at the scene. I dove immediately after and the visibility was no more than three inches for almost 100 yards offshore. By the time I got back, an hour later, the murkiness had spread at least three times that distance. I hope it cleans up soon. It certainly isn't good for the reef.

Here is my video:

<a href="#" onClick="window.open('http://ravenas.razorstream.com:80/eve-service/player.jspx?enc=z46DtYYcuFaRhCjxXYxQhQ%3D%3D','mediaPlayer','dependent=1,resizable=no,status=0,toolbar=0,menubar=0,directories=0,width=320,height=240');"><img border='0' src='http://www.helloworld.com:80/root.ajax/global_get_mediatitle_preview_banner.aspx?mtID=1590191&accID=70532&thumbURL=&mediaType=2&rand=0.19105922803085912'></a>

 

[Shaka Doug]

That didn't work....I'll try to post the video later after I get back from diving....sorry..

 

[drfsol]

here the link http://ravenas.razorstream.com:80/eve-service/player.jspx?enc=z46DtYYcuFaRhCjxXYxQhQ%3D%3D

 

[Shaka Doug]

Thank You Drfsol!

 

[justleesa]

hee hee..."aw this sucks"....

yucky run off....hope it gets carried away soon

 

[KrisB]

I was there around 10:00 -- didn't see the geyser, but I thought the "landing" area looked a little different than I remember (I was diving from a boat).

 

[rockjock3]

A more realistic number is 30-40K gallons in an hour, not hundreds of thousands of gallons. Still pretty silty though. Hope it clears soon.

 

[Shaka Doug]

A more realistic number is 30-40K gallons in an hour, not hundreds of thousands of gallons. Still pretty silty though. Hope it clears soon.

That may in fact be more accurate. However, hundreds of thousands of gallons of sea water in the bay was certainly affected by the severe run-off. You could see the silt suspended in the water there today. After diving there this morning, I must say, the beach and ocean appear to be recovering quickly. I'm very happy about that.

 

[MeiLing]

Given that it is an event that probably occurs pretty much every time it rains significantly, I wouldn't get too bent out of shape about it.

My aquarium looks pretty messed up while I'm doing a water change too! The next day it looks pretty damn fine though!

 

[Shaka Doug]

In 1999 there was a heavy rain that washed into Makena Landing. It was much worse than the fire hydrant. However, the silt that filled the bay took 11 months to clear out. The area was undivable from October 1999 until September 2000. Even then, it was still marginal. You will still find the black sediment on the bottom. It's underneath the sand and when the sea gets rough, the sand shifts and it becomes exposed. It's very dense, dark and sticks together like clay or wet cement. If you pick up a little and squish it around, it quickly clouds the surrounding water and hangs for a long time. I guess I'm just sensitive to it happening again and when I saw this, it brought back the memories of that bad year. I love Makena Landing. It's one of my most favorite places on earth. Knowing how long it takes for a response to fix this kind of thing, when I first saw the gusher, I knew it would be a while before the water got turned off. By the time it did, the silt was out almost as far as you could see. It really looked awful at the time. I'm very happy that it wasn't as bad as it looked.