{"id":870911,"date":"2026-10-04T22:14:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T22:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/870911\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T22:14:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T22:14:13","slug":"stormy-summer-takes-toll-on-maui-beaches-already-battling-erosion-maui-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/870911\/","title":{"rendered":"Stormy summer takes toll on Maui beaches already battling erosion : Maui Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\"\"Sand and debris are strewn across the road in North K\u012bhei after storm surge from Hurricane Lowell in September. Photo courtesy: Maui County<\/p>\n

In North K\u012bhei where Mike Moran lives, the beaches extend across quieter stretches of coastline that are most popular with locals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Canoe clubs use them as a launching point into M\u0101\u2018alaea Bay. People walk their dogs along the shoreline. There are no lifeguard stands and far fewer tourists than bustling South K\u012bhei.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Moran worries about these beaches slowly disappearing after decades of sea level rise and coastal erosion. This year, a series of storms has struck Maui, triggering massive flooding from rainwater rushing down the mountains to the sea and high surf that has battered the shoreline.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose poor beaches have really suffered from both ends,\u201d Moran said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coastlines across Maui are showing the effects of torrential rains and an unusually strong hurricane season in the Pacific. In South Maui, portions of beach parks are roped off due to erosion. In West Maui, sandbags are holding the waves at bay on a shrinking shoreline, while caution tape, cones and fencing block off undermined sections of the beach walkway.<\/p>\n

And while the seasonal disappearance and return of beaches is normal, experts say the extreme weather that Hawai\u2018i has seen makes it even harder for beaches to naturally recover, especially with the current El Ni\u00f1o conditions only expected to get stronger heading into next year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had these repetitive episodic events, and cumulatively they have caused a lot of shoreline erosion on top of flooding and everything else that has come with them,\u201d said Tara Owens, the Maui Nui program coordinator for the University of Hawai\u2018i Sea Grant program. \u201cSo our shorelines in South Maui and West Maui have been fairly hard hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Crews shore up Kama\u2019ole Beach Park I after storm surge from Hurricane Lowell in September. Photo courtesy: Maui County <\/p>\n

Before this year, many Maui beaches already were facing chronic erosion, the long-term, continuous loss of shoreline that comes with sea-level rise, Owens said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But over the last several months, the beaches have contended with the additional challenges of \u201cepisodic erosion\u201d \u2014 acute effects in a short amount of time \u2014 from the consecutive Kona low storms in March<\/a> to the seven tropical cyclones<\/a> that have passed through the Central Pacific since July.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re feeling not just (Hurricane) Lowell,\u201d said Chris Conger, vice president of Sea Engineering and the lead scientific consultant for the proposed K\u0101\u2018anapali Beach Restoration Project.\u00a0\u201cThey\u2019re feeling Lala. They\u2019re feeling big south swell. They\u2019re feeling probably all the way back to the March event.\u201d<\/p>\n

The consecutive blows are \u201clike watching a bad boxing match,\u201d Conger said.<\/p>\n

Michael Cain, the administrator of the state Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands, said coastal erosion had already been a crisis for a decade, and the recent storms have \u201ccreated new crisis spots.\u201d<\/p>\n

That includes Po\u2018ip\u016b on Kaua\u2018i, where the storm surge sucked up the beach and deposited the sand into nearby hotel pools. The area had erosion issues before, \u201cbut now it\u2019s a crisis,\u201d said Cain, who visited the island earlier this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese storms move sand around a lot,\u201d Cain said. \u201cIt\u2019s harder to quantify, did we lose beach, or is it just lifted significantly? Like is the sand still in the system? And in a natural environment, the beach would have just migrated inland, but with resorts or with developments, the beach doesn\u2019t have room to migrate.\u201d<\/p>\n

As seasonal erosion starts to ease and hard-hit areas start filling with sand again, officials and scientists will get a better idea of which beaches are coming back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Location plays a big part in a beach\u2019s recovery. South Maui beaches are in better position to naturally return, with a \u201csand-rich system\u201d compared to West Maui\u2019s \u201csand-starved system,\u201d Owens said.<\/p>\n

\"\"An erosion control skirt is seen on K\u0101\u2018anapali Beach fronting the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa in April. HJI \/ COLLEEN UECHI photo<\/p>\n

A place like Keawakapu Beach in K\u012bhei where erosion and storms have resulted in completely exposed rock along the shoreline could recover within a matter of weeks. But struggling coastlines like the one fronting the condominiums in Kahana may take longer and may not return to the same capacity as healthier beaches.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge this year is that we\u2019ve had continuous episodic events, so there wasn\u2019t a lot of time to recover in between those events,\u201d Owens said. \u201cSo the impact has been cumulative. But the good news is the beaches still will recover.\u201d<\/p>\n

But some areas could use a little extra help. On Maui\u2019s north shore, Owens is spearheading a dune restoration project<\/a> to counter decades of beach loss from sand mining, sea level rise and big surf.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In July, the K\u0101\u2018anapali Operators Association and the Pilikahakai Foundation announced that they had applied for a permit for a project to restore the beach with sand collected offshore<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Plans call for restoring about 50,000 cubic yards of sand between Hanaka\u2018\u014d\u2018\u014d Beach Park and Hanaka\u2018\u014d\u2018\u014d Point, widening the dry beach by 41 to 78 feet, as well as enhancing the berm between Hanaka\u2018\u014d\u2018\u014d Point and Pu\u2018u Keka\u2018a, also known as Black Rock, with about 25,000 cubic yards of sand, raising the berm elevation by 3.5 feet.<\/p>\n

The project has faced opposition from residents<\/a> who are worried about the impacts to the nearshore environment.\u00a0In 2023, the Board of Land and Natural Resources turned down a proposal to split the $10 million project costs<\/a> with the K\u0101\u2018anapali Operators Association, saying they didn\u2019t want to use public resources to protect private property. The project is now set to be privately funded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not against beach restoration, I\u2019m against desecration,\u201d Doreen Napua Canto, the board\u2019s then-Maui Nui representative, said at the time. \u201cDredging the sand will impact the nearshore environment, fishing, lifeguard services, cultural practices and canoe racing. We need to ask ourselves: \u2018How can we be better stewards of our ocean for the amount of time we have left with her?’\u201d<\/p>\n

Conger said sea level rise and storms will continue to batter the beach regardless, and restoration \u201cresets the clock\u201d and gives more time to find solutions. The sand will come from the middle of a large offshore sand field that would not impact any reefs in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a permanent solution; it\u2019s a mid-term step in a much longer adaptation pathway,\u201d Conger said. \u201cBeach restoration is kind of like this holistic opportunity that restores ecosystem. It restores a natural resource. It restores public trust land. It is for the benefit of everyone in Hawai\u2018i.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cain said he couldn\u2019t speak to the project\u2019s impacts because his agency has to stay neutral and listen to public comments before writing a recommendation to the board.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he said the right solution is different for each beach. Waik\u012bk\u012b Beach, for example, was lost in the 1910s and now requires active beach nourishment. Places like Baldwin Beach Park on Maui or Kailua Beach on O\u2018ahu do well with dunes and coastal vegetation.<\/p>\n

The challenge is places like O\u2018ahu\u2019s North Shore or West Maui \u201cwhere the development is right on the water.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere isn\u2019t room to do some of the natural solutions that would be our preference, and I think that\u2019s where the hard choices need to be made,\u201d Cain said. \u201cDo we invest in beach nourishment? Will beach nourishment even work in some areas? It\u2019s remarkably rare in Hawai\u2018i. There\u2019s a limited quantity of sand.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Sand covers South K\u012bhei Road after storm surge from Hurricane Lowell in September. Photo courtesy: Maui County<\/p>\n

Where possible, beach and dune restoration projects are among the priorities in Maui County\u2019s 2025 Hazard Mitigation Plan<\/a> to help prepare for potential future disasters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Department of Parks and Recreation Parks Beautification Division operates a native plant nursery and has ongoing shoreline restoration projects at county beach parks, the county told the Hawai\u2018i Journalism Initiative. In K\u012bhei, native plantings have been done at Kama\u2018ole Beach Parks I and II, as well as Cove Park, and dune restoration has been ongoing for over a decade at Kama\u2018ole Beach Parks I, II and III.<\/p>\n

Within the last several years, the county has created a \u201cdune crew\u201d to expand and maintain dune restoration, with recent projects including Haycraft Park in M\u0101\u2018alaea, Waipuilani Park in K\u012bhei and Kaupakalua (Baldwin Beach Park) in P\u0101\u2018ia. The county also has partnered with The Nature Conservancy on a pilot project at Ukumehame Beach Park to clear invasive plants and put in native ones.<\/p>\n

Owens has been working with the K\u0101\u2018anapali Operators Association to improve dune and vegetation management that could involve switching out turf grasses or naupaka for better-suited plants like native vines and grasses that stabilize the shoreline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The harder questions are what to do with threatened critical infrastructure like roads, lines and wastewater pump stations, or with developments like beachfront homes, businesses and hotels. Owens pointed out that Maui County is discussing relocating the pump station near Kama\u2018ole Beach Park I, which closed temporarily after Hurricane Lowell so crews could reinforce the eroded shoreline.<\/p>\n

On South K\u012bhei Road where a large portion of the pavement collapsed during flooding in March, contractors installed 90 Kyowa rock-filled bags<\/a>, 15 marine mattresses and 80 cubic yards of riprap beneath a restored layer of sand and landscaping.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On North K\u012bhei Road near Kealia Pond where storm surge during Hurricane Lowell in September cracked the pavement, the Hawai\u2018i Department of Transportation installed \u201clarge, flexible, marine-grade mesh bags filled with surge rock to prevent coastal erosion from undermining the highway.\u201d Director Ed Sniffen said this is known as \u201ca soft revetment that absorbs wave energy and is less impactful to surrounding sections of the coastline.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state transporation department has used the marine-grade mesh bag solution on Oahu\u2019s Kamehameha Highway in Hau\u02bbula.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile they do need to be checked and reset occasionally, this is considered a permanent coastal highway protection measure,\u201d Sniffen said in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n

He added that the department is also \u201cstudying nature-based solutions such as hybrid reef structures and traditional fishponds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"State crews conduct repairs on North K\u012bhei Road nearly Kealia Pond in September after storm surge from Hurricane Lowell damaged the road. Photo courtesy: Maui County<\/p>\n

Coastal hazards experts like Owens are cautious about armoring shorelines, which have been found to worsen erosion. For example, many of the seawalls along the Kahana condominiums that have exacerbated erosion on neighboring properties were built in response to another strong El Ni\u00f1o in 2015, Owens said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cain said bags buried under the sand are \u201cdefinitely better than a massive seawall, which we know would be destructive.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur preference would be no hardening at all, let the shoreline be naturalized, but we can\u2019t really do that when there\u2019s a highway running along the shoreline,\u201d Cain said. \u201cWe don\u2019t always like projects, but it\u2019s the best option we have. \u2026 For all these events, and even ongoing coastal erosion, it\u2019s going to be hard choices where we put our money, where we invest our resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cain said managed retreat \u201cdefinitely needs to be on the table,\u201d but what that actually looks like is still \u201ca big question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maui County Council Member Tamara Paltin, who holds the West Maui seat, sees managed retreat as the ultimate answer. She pushed for legislation to create the county\u2019s managed retreat revolving fund in 2022, but she said the funding is meant to address public health and safety hazards, not serve as \u201ca wealthy oceanfront landowner\u2019s buyout.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s only going to get worse,\u201d Paltin said. \u201cAnd by worse, we don\u2019t mean the slow, steady rise of the ocean. It\u2019s the one-time catastrophic events, like Hurricane Lowell, storm surge and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow Council Member Keani Rawlins-Fernandez said last month at the Hawai\u2019i State Association of Counties conference that the money and effort that went into building resorts right on the ocean has put government in a tough position as it seeks solutions for coastal erosion. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so many decisions that were made decades ago that we\u2019re now suffering the consequences of,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

On the shoreline fronting the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa in K\u0101\u2018anapali, an erosion control skirt that was supposed to be temporary when it was installed a decade ago has tried to hold off beach loss. The Hyatt had asked the state for permission to install another skirt farther down the shoreline after the Kona low storms undermined its beach walkway, but after pushback from community members<\/a>, the resort ultimately decided to just push sand to shore up the sidewalk, Cain said.<\/p>\n

The existing erosion skirt has an extension to stay in place through July 29, 2027, according to Department of Land and Natural Resources documents.<\/p>\n

\"\"K\u0101\u2018anapali Beach has battled erosion over the years, prompting property owners to push for beach restoration. Photo courtesy: Pilikahakai Foundation<\/p>\n

If the K\u0101\u2018anapali beach restoration project moves forward, Conger said the association can look at more permanent solutions like managed retreat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the community. It\u2019s the resorts. It\u2019s planners. It\u2019s agencies that all have to sit together and kind of work through a multi-year project to look at all of those different strategies and see how they might fit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For now, the jury is still out on whether the storms this year will make the push for solutions more urgent.<\/p>\n

\u201cRepetitive disasters do have a way of elevating priority for hazard mitigation and adaptation,\u201d Owens said. \u201cSo we\u2019ll see if that\u2019s the case here with these storms.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sand and debris are strewn across the road in North K\u012bhei after storm surge from Hurricane Lowell in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":870912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[367048,17756,81539,367049,6201,367050,192,27727,15771,367051,367052,367053,94107,168970,293446,117441,20657,60609,217275,75338,79,32359,194081,171390,34470,367054,94623],"class_list":["post-870911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-beach-restoration","tag-beaches","tag-central-pacific","tag-chris-conger","tag-coastal-erosion","tag-dune-restoration","tag-environment","tag-hotels","tag-hurricane-season","tag-kaanapali","tag-kaanapali-beach","tag-kaanapali-operators-association","tag-kahana","tag-kihei","tag-kona-low-storms","tag-lala","tag-lowell","tag-maui-county","tag-michael-cain","tag-npcrosspost","tag-science","tag-sea-level-rise","tag-shoreline-erosion","tag-south-maui","tag-storms","tag-tara-owens","tag-west-maui"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}