ABSTRACT

Use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been growing at a fast pace but is largely limited to the professional arena. In an effort to make use of GIS as an educational tool at the community level, an experiential project in watershed education has been initiated for Windward O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. The project is made possible through a partnership between the Windward Community College (WCC) and the Kailua Bay Advisory Council (KBAC), a non-governmental group representing the interests of the community and the City and County of Honolulu (CCH). The objectives of the program are to allow students and community members to learn about the different nonpoint source pollutants in their own neighborhood streams as well as in the greater watershed region, and to promote understanding and stewardship. The focus is based on the spatial relationships between streams and certain characteristics such as adjacent land use, vegetation, and storm drain inlets. Students and volunteers from the community walk in or next to the streams and input attribute data into a Trimble ProXR Global Positioning System (GPS) datalogger. The mapped data are then downloaded at Windward Community College and exported as Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) ArcView GIS data files. Students and community members are able to create maps of their watershed, choosing layers from the GPS data collection as well as from other sources. The final objective is to transfer the GIS maps onto the internet. Most Hawaii schools and all libraries now have internet access so the GIS maps and watershed information could reach a wider audience. Current plans include community workshops at the WCC GIS Center as well as demonstrations at schools to discuss the applications of the GIS information and to instill a sense of responsibility regarding the shared watershed resources.

KEY WORDS

GIS, GPS, water quality, education, public awareness, volunteer monitoring, internship, watershed protection

BACKGROUND

Kailua Bay Advisory Council

In May 1992, a lawsuit was filed against the CCH by several environmental organizations, namely, Save Our Bays and Beaches, Surfrider Foundation, Sierra Club, and Hawaii’s Thousand Friends, for violations of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (the Clean Water Act) for discharges at the Kailua and Kane‘ohe Sewage Treatment Plants. In July 1994, the U.S. District Court in Hawai‘i held that the CCH had violated the Clean Water Act between August 1, 1989 and August 31, 1993. On October 17, 1995, all parties agreed upon a consent decree, which included, among other stipulations, the formation of the KBAC. The defendants and the plaintiffs in the lawsuit appointed four council members each to oversee the goals and objectives described in the consent decree. The overall budget for KBAC is $3.1 million.

The purpose of the KBAC is to oversee three programs, the Volunteer Watershed Monitoring Program (VWMP), the Technical Program, and the Implementation Program. This paper describes actions taken primarily within the VWMP. The goals of the VWMP include organizing and training community members to participate in water quality monitoring, as well as providing community watershed quality education. A natural partnership has developed between the VWMP and Windward Community College due to similar program goals and the added benefit of sharing resources.

Windward Community College Hoa‘aina Center

Windward Community College (WCC), a campus of the University of Hawai‘i system, is located on fifty acres at the base of the Ko‘olau mountains in Kane‘ohe. WCC enrolls approximately 1500 students each semester.

The WCC Department of Natural Sciences’ Pacific Partnerships for Science Education, a consortium of collaborative programs which promote science education in Hawai‘i and throughout the Pacific region, provides educational opportunities to the community at large and supports WCC’s credit science program. This program emphasizes the marine, earth, and space sciences with a special focus on environmental monitoring and remote sensing. In keeping with this focus, the WCC Department of Natural Sciences has recently received a $93,000 NASA "Mission to Planet Earth" grant and a Phi Theta Kappa-National Science Foundation grant establishing the "Hoa‘aina Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Training and Research Center for Environmental Monitoring." The Hoa‘aina ("stewards of the land") Center functions to establish undergraduate curricula in remote sensing (RS), geographic information systems (GIS), and global positioning system (GPS) use, as well as serving as a resource to both researchers and community members whose work can benefit from the application of these technologies. This facility is designated as one of NASA’s Centers of Excellence in RS and environmental monitoring.

The Hoa‘aina Center includes a Windows NT server (provided by the KBAC through a cooperative agreement) with five workstations, a large format digitizer, copier and printer, color scanner, GPS units including capabilities for establishing a GPS base station, as well as GIS software (ArcView and Arc/Info). WCC has recently formed a partnership with ESRI, who provided a campus site license to WCC for all of its computers.

WCC’s RS/GIS program offers great experiential opportunities for students engaged in research projects conducted under the auspices of WCC’s Hawai‘i Space Grant Consortium and the Marine Option Program, both of which are undergraduate internship programs. This RS/GIS curricular initiative further complements WCC’s unique curriculum in Polynesian Voyaging and Stewardship, which is a multi-disciplinary course stressing environmental awareness and stewardship.

THE WCC/KBAC WATERSHED MAPPING PROJECT

The purpose of the watershed mapping project is to allow for the cultivation of a deeper respect for the watersheds, simply by getting to know it better. The main goals of this project are twofold: 1) to develop, organize, and coordinate community watershed mapping activities locating and documenting features in the Ko‘olaupoko watersheds that pertain to water quality; and 2) to ensure pathways for schools and individuals to access the information, data, and maps from our mapping efforts as well as from other sources.

A consistent problem with many community water quality monitoring projects is the disconnect between the data collection process and the availability of the results. Often, community volunteers do not have access to the reports and findings that were based on the data they collected. This separation between volunteer data collection and researcher conclusions discourages continued active involvement in the community monitoring process. A new approach such as GIS makes it easier for volunteers to access the gathered information, interpret spatial and temporal relationships of all the pertinent data, and develop a keener understanding of their data.

Site description

The area of interest includes the Kailua, Kane‘ohe, and Waimanalo Bays and their watersheds, which comprise the Ko‘olaupoko region on the windward side of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i (Figure 1). Rain is more prevalent on the windward side; therefore, there are numerous streams, both intermittent and perennial, that exist throughout the region. Due to the steep slopes of the Ko‘olau Range, the shape of which roughly defines the watershed boundaries; the porous, volcanic substrate; and the relatively narrow coastal plain, the streams are naturally prone to flash floods during periods of heavy rains. However, in the urban centers of the three watersheds, the streams have been altered to wide concrete-lined channels in order to prevent flood hazards. Suspended sediments from stormwater runoff is a major pollutant, as well as nutrients from sources such as dairy farms, horse ranches, nurseries, farms, and golf courses, all of which are located throughout Ko‘olaupoko. The aim of the watershed mapping project is to document many of these potential pollutant sources to provide a framework for community involvement and mitigation activities.

Global Positioning System

The Global Position System (GPS), developed by the United States Department of Defense, uses a network of 24 satellites orbiting the earth at a very high altitude to act as reference points from which GPS receivers on the ground determine their respective positions. The satellites send extremely accurate time signals, from which the GPS ground receivers calculate distances. Readings from four satellites are desirable to pinpoint a latitude, longitude, and altitude, and to compensate for the fact that the receiver clocks are not necessarily in sync with the satellite clocks.

GPS presents an alternative to traditional surveying techniques. Some GPS units allow users to upload a user-defined data dictionary into a datalogger to collect data representing point, line, and area features. For example, erosion sites may be mapped as area features, while stream characteristics may be entered as line features; storm drain inlets into the stream may be logged as point features. Once collected, GPS data can be transferred into a GIS for displays and analyses.

In our project, community volunteers, student interns, and teachers have been trained in the use of a Trimble ProXR differential GPS unit to collect information about the characteristics of streams throughout the Ko‘olaupoko district, while simultaneously tagging the feature information with its latitude and longitude position (Figure 2). While one objective of this effort is to provide information that will be useful in decision-making necessary for water quality remediation, a major goal is to enhance community awareness about these streams through community participation.

The strategy for the mapping project is to commence with documenting gross-scale features and then to map more detailed data in phases. The progression begins with tasks that need little or no training and lead up to bioassessment and water quality testing, that requires implementing a more rigorous training program and monitoring schedule. The phases can generally be divided into five parts:

1. Reconnaissance: look at features, obstacles, hazards, overhead cover (line of sight to satellites is needed for GPS)
2. Document water flow (general, not measured), stream bottom characteristics, inlets (such as storm drains), litter sites
3. Document erosion, adjacent land use
4. Measure flow velocity, temperature, vegetation, stream animals (presence/absence)

V. Bioassessment, water quality testing

The Trimble ProXR GPS datalogger is menu-driven to collect feature data, based on a user-defined data dictionary (Table 1) that is electronically transferred from the accompanying Pathfinder software. After the field work of data collection is complete, the data are transferred to a Geographic Information System (GIS).

Table 1. Data dictionary for Phases II/III

Feature	Attribute	Menu options
Stream	Streambed	Natural material, revetment, lined U, lined V, realigned channel, culvert under road, waterfall, other
	Flow	Dry streambed, still water, low flow, moderate flow, high flow
	Date	Automatic generation
Inlets	Type	Storm drain, industrial, field drain, feedlot drain, pond drain, household drain, parking lot drain, tributary, unknown, other
	Date	Automatic generation
Debris	Type	Household, yardwaste, construction, commercial, fast-food/plastic bags, fallen branches/logs, other
	Quantity	Few isolated items, up to 1 lg garbage bag, > 1 bag, few branches/logs, log/debris jam, other
	Date	Automatic generation
Auto Batteries	Quantity	Numeric input
	Date	Automatic generation
Erosion Site (area mapped)	Slope	Flat, <30%, 30-60%, >60%
	Soil type	Text
Right or Left Land Use (specified)	Use	Residential, large lawn, golf course, impervious parking lot, permeable parking lot, light industry, commercial, banana farm, taro lo‘i, rice field, nursery, other agriculture, livestock, marsh, unused, other, unknown

Map-Making and the Use of a GIS

Maps attempt to portray the real world using graphics and symbols that represent regions and objects. Maps present useful information that may allow the user to assess the status of the environment and its response to human impacts and other agents of environmental change. For example, a map illustrating the path of a stream through an urbanized watershed may help a community group identify potential pollution inputs into the stream. Or, maps representing the same location at different times may reveal important trends, such as the expansion of an erosion site over time.

Desktop computing has greatly facilitated map making and viewing. Electronic display-only maps (electronic atlases) may be produced with appropriate graphics software and formatted to display information in specific ways. The user may have the opportunity to zoom in or out of specific areas of interest, as well as to print out hard copies for presentations and reports. Unfortunately, these display-only systems are limited by their lack of tools for analyzing the information being presented.

In contrast to electronic atlases, a GIS is a sophisticated digital database that links data to geographic locations in a way that can be presented in maps, tables, and charts. Information may be accessed from maps; and maps may be drawn from the information (Figure 3). In addition, GIS software allows the user to conduct queries and analyses that may reveal hidden relationships and trends. For example, a GIS may permit correlation of land use practices with degradative changes in the water quality of a stream.

Figure 3. View of GIS screen. The user can use the tools and buttons to add new themes, zoom

in or out, and pan the view, for example. The check boxes on the left allow the user to select only

those themes, or layers, of interest. Source: WCC/KBAC GIS database.

Each feature (points, lines, and areas) of a GIS map is linked to information about that feature. For example, information about a stream segment may include its rate of flow, stream bed composition, physical and chemical characteristics, flora and fauna, adjacent land use activities, etc. (these categories of information are called attributes). Selecting the stream segment feature on the map brings up the table of information about that specific feature (Figure 4). Data for all of the segments of a stream, or of several streams, may be organized in a spreadsheet or database. Selecting individual records, or selecting records based upon specific characteristics (e.g., stream segments with natural streambeds), in the spreadsheet automatically highlights the locations of the selected features on the map.

Figure 4. A GIS view showing the attribute table (bottom of figure) that is linked to the selected

Themes (shown as a raised selection on the left column in the view above the table).

Source: WCC/KBAC GIS database.

A GIS manages information about features in geographically-linked units called themes. Each theme, which may be thought of as a separate layer in the GIS, contains related features possessing a common set of attributes. For example, one theme may be all of the streams in a defined geographic area. Another theme may be land use zones. Storm drains may be yet another theme. A digitized aerial photograph of the location is a theme that may assist further in making interpretations from the GIS. Themes may be displayed separately or together. For example, a graphic map of reef bottom substrates may be displayed superimposed over an aerial photograph of the same location. In order to incorporate different themes from other sources, the coordinate systems for the data must match. To make the data compatible, the GPS software enables the user to customize the coordinate system of the file to be exported to GIS. In our case, we have downloaded basemap layers provided by the State of Hawaii Dept. of Business, Economic Development , and Tourism and have conformed our maps by using the same coordinate specifications of UTM, 4North, Old Hawaiian. Both these State data and the GPS data collected in our project have been incorporated in database files for visualization and analysis using ESRI’s ArcView GIS software.

Since information in a GIS is linked to geographic coordinates, the spatial relationships of features may be evaluated both within and among themes. For example, a user may query a GIS database to identify and correlate land use practices with stream locations exhibiting specific water quality characteristics. Perhaps high nutrient levels in specific stream locations have provoked an investigator to wonder what specific activities may be responsible. The investigator could query the GIS to identify all of the land use activities within a specified distance that have the potential of draining into that stream location. Therefore, use of the GIS can teach watershed management principles by interactive investigation. Depending upon levels of experience and knowledge, a GIS can be used both by young children performing simple queries about their neighborhood streams and by land resource managers for more complex decision-making analyses.

A GIS is thus a powerful tool for organizing, integrating, displaying, updating, and analyzing geographic data. The user can make custom maps depending on their particular investigation and can easily update them over time. The GIS is also useful for producing layouts, using data from various sources, for the purposes of making displays or reports (Figure 5).

Figure 5. A GIS layout, using a map drawn from GPS mapping data, digital photographs linked to

specific sites, and added text. Legend and scale depictions are automatic features. Source: WCC/

KBAC GIS database.

INTERNET AND WATERSHED EDUCATION

Existing technology permits users to work with GIS databases through the internet, allowing remote users access to the power of a GIS in environmental assessment, management, and education. Our project involves establishing a watershed GIS to manage data collected from Ko‘olaupoko waterways and providing public internet access to these data, allowing and promoting community-based management and education for the watersheds involved. Internet access will help to facilitate classroom use of the watershed data. An ongoing effort to involve the district K-12 teachers and students in the GPS/GIS mapping project via interactive workshops and field trips has yielded positive feedback. There is a high level of interest among the teachers because they see how the use of a GIS not only supports water quality education, but it also allows for student investigations to proceed from the start to finish: using the GPS, taking water quality measurements, inputting the data, and using a GIS to create maps and investigate spatial relationships. Furthermore, the querying features of the GIS allow the students to discover relationships between features from different data sets, conceivably interdisciplinary in nature. In so doing, the GIS exercises not only encourage responsibility and stewardship, but also develop critical thinking skills concerning water quality issues related to their projects, their watershed, and their world.

We are in the process of building World Wide Web mapping applications to provide public access to our watershed GIS data. Using the ESRI Map Objects Internet Map Server software, web-enabled GIS data may be viewed with standard web browser software (e.g., HTML, Java, and Direct X) or ESRI ArcExplorer software. ArcExplorer is a simplified GIS data explorer that may be downloaded via the internet at no cost to the user. It is our hope that these web-enabled data will be used in classroom projects and for community planning efforts.

PROJECT OUTCOMES AND FUTURE WORK

During the seven months since the watershed mapping project was initiated, 30 volunteers and students have contributed nearly 200 hours towards the project. To date, we have begun mapping 8 streams, a lake, and an historic Hawaiian fishpond that is in the process of being restored. The physical products of the mapping project are the data which can produce a variety of customized maps. Due to the community field investigations using the Trimble GPS unit, which has sub-meter accuracy, the volunteers can map water quality features with greater detail than is currently available on State or City and County maps. For example, land use is extremely important when studying sources of nutrient and sediment loads. However, State and City and County GIS maps generally depict broad land use categories: agriculture, conservation, or urban districts. Our maps show actual adjacent land use, such as farms, large lawns, and parking lots. As the mapping project enters the water quality testing phases (not yet implemented), graphs and data tables will also be electronically linked to the maps. In addition to producing physical data and maps, many people have contributed their free time and energy to participate in the field mapping and have increased their own awareness of watershed characteristics that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.

In the planning stages are various internet and watershed games and activities, primarily aimed at younger participants. For example, we would like to construct an interactive page that incorporates our GIS data and maps with a game that challenges the player to move our endemic goby, O‘opu hi‘ukole (Lentipes concolor), up the stream against several obstacles, such as cement-lined portions, litter, and polluted runoff. Similarly, we envision future digital or internet tours of the neighborhood streams.

BIOGRAPHIES

Donna Ashizawa is currently a contractor for the Windward O‘ahu-based Kailua Bay Advisory Council as the coordinator for their Volunteer Watershed Monitoring Program. She is also an adjunct faculty member with the Windward Community College in Kane‘ohe, Hawai‘i. Ms. Ashizawa has an M.S. in Marine Environmental Science from the Marine Sciences Research Center at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she studied the cycling of a PCB in Hudson River plankton.

David Krupp teaches marine and biological sciences at Windward Community College. As the Marine Option Program faculty coordinator he also supervises undergraduate interns engaged in various projects such as coral reef monitoring and water quality assessment. Dr. Krupp received his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, where he studied the biochemistry and reproduction of reef corals.