As specified in the Consent decree, this report is prepared to inform all parties of the work done by the Council through its three programs during the year ending June 1999. The programs are 1) the Technical Program; 2) the Implementation Program; and 3) the Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program.

The Council has undergone personnel changes and now consists of: Jeffrey Harris, Mark Heckman, Alex Ho, Steve Holmes, Edward Laws, Fred Madlener, Toby Rushforth and Christine Woolaway. Meetings are usually held the second Tuesday of each month at the Windward Community College.

The Technical Program

Eugene Dashiell was hired to implement the Technical Program. After KBAC reviewed the preliminary problem identification report, E. Dashiell was directed by KBAC to concentrate initially on four areas of concern. These are:

Soil erosion, remediation of old highway cuts. The program is coordinating with DOT Highways Division to identify ownership of the highway cuts in order to obtain rights of entry so that KBAC can contact firms to install vegetation to reduce soil erosion at the selected sites. These actions are taking longer than originally planned because of delays in determining ownership of the highway rights of way. Copies of the "as-built" plans of the highway segments of concern have been received and will be following up with DOT Highways Division with our suggested programs for their approval. After their approval is received, we will initiate contracts to do the work.

Waimanalo Algal Blooms. KBAC’s strategy is to prepare a fact sheet (a short report summarizing available information about the water quality problems) and convene a workshop to discuss the problems and possible alternative remediation methods. KBAC would issue the fact sheet to interested parties, convene a workshop, and report on its conclusions. A course of action would be initiated, depending on the outcome of the workshop. This activity is progressing more slowly than anticipated because of the opportunity to include results of the Temporary Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) storm water runoff monitoring, which continues to await enough rainfall to trigger runoff events. A student intern is helping by preparing a report discussing the use of constructed wetlands and native plants to "filter" and treat storm water runoff by removing nutrients and sediment prior to discharge into the ocean.

Enchanted Lake, Kaelepulu Stream and Kawainui Canal. KBAC’s strategy is to prepare a fact sheet and to convene a workshop to discuss the problems and possible alternative remediation methods. KBAC would issue the fact sheet to interested parties, convene a workshop, and report on its conclusions. A course of action would be initiated depending on the outcome of the workshop. This situation is complicated by the presence of two separate homeowner groups who actually own Enchanted Lake. We are working to obtain old maps of the area and to evaluate the drainage and engineering reports presently available in order to prepare the fact sheet. A student intern is assisting in assembling the information.

Stream Evaluation and Restoration Recommendations. The evaluation and recommendations are dependent on a descriptive inventory of streams in Koolaupoko. D. Ashizawa had initiated inventory work through use of the GPS to map the streams – about 8 streams out of more than 20 have been preliminary inventoried. At present data include some descriptions of presence or absence of storm drains or other obvious sources of potential pollution. Follow-on phases of this work were to have included additions of descriptive "health" of the streams. Such work has yet to be started, and difficulties exist in part because we do not have an agreement on uniform method of stream assessment. We are working with aquatic biologists and others to prepare such an assessment and are considering sponsoring a workshop to prepare some initial guidance. Once the guidance is available, and the mapping completed, the recommendations for restoration can be prepared. We are ready to re-start the mapping effort through use of a part-time GPS leader and student interns and/or community volunteers. One student intern is helping by learning to use the GPS.

A preliminary report has been prepared which identifies water quality problems in Koolaupoko. This report suggests strategies for remediation, discusses ways to involve the public, suggests a means of monitoring, sets priorities for action, and recommends educational options. This report is available on the Internet in Adobe PDF format for convenient downloading.

A newsletter has been distributed to 420 addresses including agencies, the public, groups and media organizations. This 12 page report describes KBAC, its mission, and activities. It also includes maps and photographs.

The Implementation Program

The implementation phase will be sequenced after other projects are completed.

The Volunteer Water Quality Program

Early in 1997, the Council hired Susan Miller as a consultant to prepare a written report identifying 1) the nature and extent of water quality or watershed management problems within the windward watersheds, 2) describing any gaps in the existing state of knowledge and, 3) guiding the direction of remedial measures if such measures are deemed advisable by the Council. The report has been completed and is available at the Kailua, Kaneohe, and Waimanalo libraries.

Donna Ashizawa was hired as the Volunteer Water Quality Program Coordinator and she established an office in Kaneohe. She first met with various community leaders and organizations and attended public meetings on the windward side to determine the issues of concern and she presented the goals of the KBAC and the Volunteer Program.

The KBAC purchased a Trimble GPS (Global Positioning System) and Donna began the work of mapping stream areas in the windward area to document water quality features for educational and informative purposes. High school and college students, as well as community volunteers’ signed up and became involved in the mapping project.

A "Memorandum of Understanding" between Windward Community College and the Kailua Bay Advisory Council was signed. The KBAC’s water quality GIS database that Donna and the community volunteers’ built are housed at WCC’s Hoa’aina Remote Sensing/Geographic Information System (GIS) Center. The KBAC has purchased a file server for mutual use by both parties to host the GIS data on the internet for the purpose of providing educational water quality and other information to the public. These tools form the basis of a major aspect of KBAC’s strategy to meet the terms of the Consent Decree for both the Technical Program and the Public Education components. The internet web page will be up on the Windward Community College file server in October or early November. Use of the GPS will provide the vital description needed on streams and their features and conditions. These data form the basis of the program of stream restoration which will involve the community and assist in leading to solutions on the land to storm water contamination which adversely affects embayments.

Kailua Bay Advisory Board Council Members:

                * Troy Falardeau

                         - January ‘97 replaced by Karen Archibald

            - October ’97 replaced by Elaine Murphy

            - February ’99 replaced by Toby Rushforth

* Darwin Hamamoto

        - February ’97 replaced by Roland Libby, Jr.

        - January ’99 replaced by Alex Ho

                * Steve Holmes

                * Jeffrey Harris

                * Mark Heckman

                * Edward Laws

                * Fred Madlener

                        - July to Nov ’98 replaced by Donna Wong

* Christine Woolaway