UH Sea Grant helps Kauai County prepare for
climate change
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Cindy Knapman, (808) 956-7410
Communications Leader, Sea Grant
Posted: Oct 2, 2014
Cover image
The island of Kaua‘i, the oldest of the main Hawaiian islands at approximately six million years of age, is one of the most remote
islands in the world. This remoteness, coupled with an increasing vulnerability to coastal hazards due to climate change and sea-level
rise, prompted the Kaua‘i County Planning Department to take a visionary step in its efforts to help the community prepare.
To effectively plan for short- and long-term coastal hazard impacts from climate change, the Kaua‘i County Planning Department
turned to the University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant College Program (UH Sea Grant) for assistance. It commissioned Ruby Pap, a UH Sea
Grant coastal land-use extension agent based on Kaua‘i, to coordinate a technical study, synthesizing all of the relevant coastal hazard
science and providing a suite of policy and planning options to consider when incorporating sea-level rise into the Kaua‘i General Plan
(GP) update. Although the current GP does address coastal hazards such as coastal erosion, it does not specifically recognize climate
change and sea-level rise and its potential to exacerbate existing coastal hazards.
In response, Pap, along with a team of experts from Sea Grant in both coastal hazards science and planning, produced the Kaua‘i
Climate Change and Coastal Hazards Assessment. The study found that addressing climate change related coastal hazards, such as
sea-level rise, does not necessarily require the development of new programs. Kaua‘i already experiences and has the framework for
addressing coastal flooding and wave inundation, erosion, inland flooding and wind. These hazards will be exacerbated by climate
change and, while little can be done to prevent coastal hazard events, the study provides data, tools and recommendations for planners
and the community to reduce adverse impacts through proper planning.
“We are grateful to the Sea Grant program for completing this technical study,” said Kaua‘i Mayor Bernard Carvalho, Jr. “This will be
the first time we’ve significantly considered climate change in our General Plan process, and it will be invaluable to us as we move
forward and make responsible decisions for our island’s future.”
Another important component of the study was the presentation of sea-level rise inundation maps for selected geographic areas on
Kaua‘i, utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data developed by the UH Coastal Geology Group for the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration’s Digital Coast Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer. The maps provide examples of
what planners may create utilizing the GIS data and the tools suggested in the report. These maps may be used in the General Plan
update process as a preliminary screening tool for sea-level rise inundation hazards, and to identify areas where future hazard, risk,
and vulnerability assessments and other planning efforts should be focused.
Pap noted, “Kaua‘i County has taken a very important step in incorporating climate change into its planning process. Hopefully our
report will go a long way to assist the entire community in understanding the coastal hazard implications of climate change, and how
as a community we can adapt to these realities and become more resilient.”
The study was recently selected for presentation at the Biennial Meeting of the Coastal Society and National Summit on Coastal and
Estuarine Restoration in Washington, D.C., in November.
The entire report is available online at http://seagrant.soest.hawaii.edu/publications .
The University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant College Program is part of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s prestigious School of Ocean
and Earth Science and Technology. It supports an innovative program of research, education and extension services directed to the
improved understanding and stewardship of coastal and marine resources of the state, region and nation. Science serving Hawai‘i
and the Pacific for over 45 years.