Keawakapu Reef Report

[Huck BB62]

Saw a COT out at the "Apartments" today.

 

[Maui Manini]

I'd like to dive on site, because I didn't learn anything at the public hearing.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Well, I finally decided to yahoo Keawakakapu Artificial Reef; the first hit was the Hawaii.Gov page on the State wide AR Program;

Artificial Reefs

Evidently, the permit was for the entire State, not individual sites.

Permits

Any entity (public or private) trying to establish an artificial reef in U.S. waters must get a permit from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. The USACE is the lead Federal agency responsible for permitting artificial reef development under authority of the National Fishing Enhancement Act of 1984.

In February 2004 the DAR sent an application to the USACE for a new Department of Army permit. At the same time, the DAR applied for the Coastal Zone Management's Federal Consistency Certification and the Department of Health's Section 401 Water Quality Certification, as part of the ACE permit. In February 2005, the DAR's application for a Department of Army permit was approved. This permit expires on December 2, 2009.

The above quoted and linked page has links to individual AR's, including Keawakapu. From looking at the Keawakapu boundaries map (linked below) I was again wrong, the map on the z-block damage report (also linked below) was correct in it's placement of the SE corner of the KAR boundary being in the NW corner of the damage map.

For some reason I thought the many tire modules and the St. Anthony wreck were inside the Keawakapu AR boundaries. But no; as far as I understand maps and coordinates (both parents geologists) NONE of the St. Anthony and surrounding tire modules AR is inside the Keawakapu AR. Most of the Keawakapu AR is deep water outside the deep reef.

That makes sense, sort of, as the permits were issued "under authority of the National Fishing Enhancement Act of 1984." Fishing habitat, not recreational diving & fish habitat.

The damage report does include this confusing statement; "The artificial reef consists of different structures including 150 cars, 2,250 tire modules, 35 concrete slabs, and one vessel (the "St. Anthony") that have been deployed over time (DLNR, 2009) within a designated zone approximately 54 acres in size."

Meeting offers answers on reef damage - Mauinews.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Visitor's Information - The Maui News

The Maui News article (link above) includes this statement;

DLNR aquatic experts said that, at the time of the accident, the barge was riding on rough water. It was murky, too, and those sinking the slabs could not see the bottom about 60 to 120 feet below. The Keawakapu reef is made up of 150 cars, a sunken ship, 35 other concrete slabs and thousands of tires. Half the artificial reef is covered in self-sustaining live coral

I am now wondering if there are also thousands of tire modules and a sunken ship in the actual AR zone, as it is hard to believe the St. Anthony and surrounding tire modules have 50% live coral coverage.

The more I look into this the more questions I have.

http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/dar/pubs/ARKeawakapu.pdf - Artificial Reef boundaries map

http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/dar/pdf/keawakapu.pdf - z-block damage report

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Well I have to admit that I did not make it to the meeting this week at Kihei Community Center where Laura Thielen spoke with regards to the Investigation and possible consequences.

DLNR chief takes renewed criticism over reef damage - Mauinews.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Visitor's Information - The Maui News

Whatever consequences are meted out to the state staff responsible for dropping concrete blocks on a living reef last year will probably never be made public, Department of Land and Natural Resources Chairwoman Laura Thielen said last week.

At the bottom of the article there is mention of a $200,000 grant from the Federal Government "to rectify the situation." Earlier in the article there was mention that the Fed's may fine the State $100,000 - 200,000 for the damage, so if we are lucky(?) there will be $100,000 net gain to pay for whatever happens, which probably already happened (the study).

Today's Maui News also had an article about the Neighbor Island's DAR Offices probably closing due to the State Budget situation. Cuts in the DLNR appropriation would result in losing funding from the Fed's that require matching State funds. Thielen says that would result in the closing of all three Neighbor Island DAR Offices.

Proposed DLNR cuts would run deep - Mauinews.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Visitor's Information - The Maui News

"This would be it for Maui," said Russell Sparks, education specialist in the Division of Aquatic Resources Maui office. "For Maui, the Big Island and Kauai, the offices would close completely. All the staff would be laid off."

Going back to the Reef damage article; the underlined portion I find puzzling, the bolded portion from Roy Bendell is a valid conclusion!

Thielen said preliminary findings suggest two significant factors in the reef accident: the water was choppy that day; and the crew and DLNR supervisors on boats alongside were using out-of-date underwater maps, charts and surveys.

...

Chairwoman Madge Schaefer(Governor's Council of Neighbor Island Advisors for Maui ?), who said she watched the whole incident unfold from shore, said the reef damage was an emotional issue to many and should be handled with transparency. She said it wasn't right to keep the public in the dark.

...

Schaefer said it seems logical that the damaged reef will grow back on its own in a few years.

But former biologist and dive operator Roy Bendell said leaving the slabs in place should not be an option. Keawakapu is a very popular dive site, and the state should have been there the next day lifting those slabs out using cables and helicopters, he said.

Why wait and study and wait some more, he asked, when the solution is so simple.

"We're wasting state funds just having meetings on this," Bendell said.

From the Maui Dreams blog about piloting a Safety Vessel during deployment​

Notice (above and below) how "choppy" the water was!

Three photos of the barge dumping the Z blocks. The YouTube video was shot a day or two after at this same location. The videographer is concerned that DLNR may close the site to divers to essentially 'hide' the evidence. I commend the videographer for taking it upon his/her self to document this right away.

Here is a link to another news article written by a local Maui diver with many years experience diving Maui's reefs:

Hawaii Reporter: Hawaii Reporter

 

[smellzlikefish]

I'm really good at getting myself into trouble in these kinds of issues by taking the unpopular side, so I'll do my best to tread lightly.

I would agree the situation for those reefs is grim for the immediate future, but I haven't lit my war torch just yet. The blocks destroyed some reef (looks like a later succession reef dominated by Porites copressa), but made bare/suitable settling spots for other, less dominating species of coral that support other species of fish/inverts/etc. and thus adding to the overall diversity. Knocking down late succession ecosystems isn't necessarily a bad thing. That's why they purposely burn down select forests on the mainland: keep the forest in a state of medium succession, create habitat for less dominating species and maintain biodiversity.

What concerns me more is the re-appropriation of funds from DLNR, as if the enforcement in this state wasn't struggling enough. DAR screwed the pooch here, and call me a forever optimist, but there is a silver lining to the temporary destruction. Hanging our only enforcement agency isn't the answer.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Well I may have fell for a PR ploy by Thielen, as today's news articles on the budget situation indicate this was a preemptive lobby to counter one Senator's attempt to fund a new program for marine biology students on Coconut Island. These budget discussions are still in committee and the House has nothing like this in their committee. Blown out of proportion by all involved, the eventual budget is not likely to fund new programs at the expense of existing Federally matched funding. I expect the DLNR funding will be pared to the minimum to get the matching funds, so there will be layoffs but outrage over closing outer Island DAR offices is probably a bit chicken little.

What has been most frustrating for me is the stupidity / negligence / ignorance / deception with regards to the Artificial Reef program here in Hawaii. I can pretty much guaranty there were not 100 different crown of thorns starfish spotted in 3 days of diving; Shaka Doug is spot-on with his theory on why that number is in the report. If you think it is surprising the report would lie, just see how Laura Thielen describes the "choppy water" that day as one of the two "significant factors" in the accident.

The contractor (American Marine?) should be held accountable for dumping z-blocks on live reef that is on the charts. The other significant factor in the accident according to Thielen was due to using using "out-of-date underwater maps, charts and surveys." The web / layman's map on the Hawaii.gov web site clearly shows the live reef they dropped the z-blocks on, and it has a 4/4/07 revision date. I'm still wondering about the fact that the St. Anthony and adjacent tire module reef are ~.25 miles South of the South boundary line of the Keawakapu Artificial Reef? It seems to me that it is likely there is no artificial reef inside the boundaries of the artificial reef.

I was there the day the St. Anthony was dropped ('97?). It was a couple days behind schedule because strong South Westerlies blew the St. Anthony nearly onto the beach the day/night before the scheduled drop. For a number of high tides the combined South Maui dive boat flotilla tried unsuccessfully to pull it off the sand into the still blowing SW's. From over the horizon came the saviour, the Golden Shadow, to lay out a half mile of cable and engage it's probably souped up tug engines to not only drag the St. Anthony off the bottom but hold it in place for hours until the scuttling was finished. We are talking nasty conditions for days but they managed to put it right next to the tires!

Now that ship is a piece of work, a yacht tender built in '94 that still ranked as the 72nd largest yacht in the World in '07!

For more than a decade she's hosted oceanographic expeditions for scientists and researchers. To aid them in their efforts, she has a recompression chamber and totes a seaplane that "boards" the yacht via a submersible platform at the stern. A handful of walk-in refrigerators and freezers can keep stores for three weeks, and a high-tech refuse-management system that includes an incinerator means nothing but footsteps are left behind.

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