Water resources
Act 217 Sewer Expansion Overlay
Act 217 Sewer Expansion Overlay The Act 217 Sewer Expansion Overlay identifies 103 Potential Project Areas across Hawaiʻi where connecting cesspools to a centralized sewer system may be technically and economically feasible. While the Hawaiʻi Cesspool Hazard Assessment & Prioritization ...
Characterization and quantification of contaminants of emerging concern in nearshore waters of three coastal communities with known onsite sewage disposal systems’ contamination
Research Projects 2026-2028 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Tracy Wiegner Co-INVESTIGATORS: Steven Colbert, Chester Dabalos, Paul Edmiston Research Track: Contaminants of Emerging Concern Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are a vast and diverse group of chemicals that are ubiquitous in the environment because ...
A water quality monitoring framework for traditional Hawaiian fishponds to advance nature-based solutions in aquaculture production
Research Projects 2026-2028 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Craig Nelson Co-INVESTIGATORS: Ann Nyambega, Kirsten Oleson Graduate fellow: Kacie Kajihara Research Track: Island Sustainability and Resilience Nature-based solutions (NbS) offer adaptive, cost-effective strategies by leveraging natural processes, but their foundational roots lie in the ...
Drivers and dynamics of emerging contaminants in urban island aquatic systems
Research Projects 2026-2028 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Aurora Kagawa-Viviani Co-INVESTIGATORS: Juhee Kim, Emily Marron, Donn A. Viviani Graduate fellow: Rami Tommalieh Research Track: Contaminants of Emerging Concern On the island of Oʻahu, public interest in groundwater surged following major contaminant releases at ...
HCPT – header draft
Hawai‘i Cesspool Prioritization Tool Overview The Hawai‘i Cesspool Prioritization Tool (HCPT) is a map-based tool that displays the prioritization level for each of Hawai‘i's 83,000+ cesspools. Per Act 125 Session Laws of Hawai‘i (2017), all cesspool owners are required to ...
Ola Waikīkī Green Stormwater Infrastructure 2025
Ola Waikīkī Ola In Hawaiian, means well-being, living, thriving, and healthy—but it also connotes salvation, healing, and survival. This project is focused on addressing water quality issues in the Ala Wai Canal, a chronically polluted man-made waterway in the lower ...
Developing an ecosystem-based monitoring program for adaptive management of Kalou lo‘i and loko wai
Research Projects 2024-2026 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Carmella Vizza Sea Grant Graduate Fellow: Adrian Dougherty Research Track: Aquaculture Wetland restoration efforts in Hawaiʻi exist at the unique interface of traditional Hawaiian practices, conservation, agriculture, and aquaculture. These efforts involve enlarging endangered Hawaiian ...
Sea Education Association: Studying Microplastics Aboard a Tall Ship
by Mallory HoffbeckUndergraduate student Noah van Aardenne stands lookout on the bow of the tall ship SSV Robert C. Seamans, holding on to the forestay as the ship tosses. He watches the horizon for rain clouds, marine animals, or rare ...
Act Local, Act Global
by Lurline Wailana McGregorWhen the last of its four counties implemented laws to ban plastic bags from store checkouts in 2021, Hawaiʻi became the first in the nation with a full statewide ban. Since then, the City and County of ...
Getting to the Bottom of U.S. Ocean Plastic Pollution: a Conversation with Leading Experts
by Tess JoosseThe United States uses and discards the most plastic in the world, churning out a whopping 42 million metric tons each year. Despite this distinction, as recently as 2020 the full scale of the U.S.’s contribution to ocean ...
