Multiple outlets reported that the Pilikahakai Foundation and Kāʻanapali Operations Association Inc. have filed a permit application with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to restore Kāʻanapali Beach, one of Maui’s most popular shorelines. The plan aims to reverse decades of erosion driven by rising sea levels and increased wave energy by returning offshore sand to the beach.
- The groups filed a conservation district use permit application with the DLNR — the first step in a multi-year county, state, and federal permitting process.
- The project would move approximately 75,000 cubic yards of offshore sand back onto the shoreline, restoring the beach to its 1988 width and height.
- Between Hanakaʻōʻō Beach Park and Hanakaʻōʻō Point, about 50,000 cubic yards of sand would be placed, widening the dry beach by 41 to 78 feet in some areas.
- Between Hanakaʻōʻō Point and Puʻu Kekaʻā, roughly 25,000 cubic yards of sand would raise the berm elevation by 3.5 feet, and protodunes with native vegetation would be created to stabilize the shoreline.
- More than 30 years of scientific studies document accelerating erosion as rising sea levels push additional wave energy onto the beach.
- If approved, construction would begin in fall 2027 and take two to three months to complete.
- ‘Kaanapali Beach is vanishing, and without action, we risk losing something irreplaceable,’ said Keolahou Hinau, executive director of the Pilikahakai Foundation. (AOL/KHON2)
Sources
- Maui Now: West Maui nonprofit, resort group unveil plan to restore eroding Kāʻanapali Beach
- AOL/KHON2: West Maui nonprofit unveils plan to restore Kā’anapali Beach as erosion worsens
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