KAHANA – The public has until Aug. 22 to comment on the second Environmental Impact Statement Preparation Notice for a project to devise a regional approach to provide erosion mitigation at Kahana Bay.

The EIS notice for the Kahana Bay Erosion Mitigation project is posted in the July 23 edition of the state Office of Environmental Quality Control’s “The Environmental Notice” (available via health.hawaii.gov/oeqc/).

According to the document, Kahana Beach in West Maui has been subject to severe coastal erosion due to sea level rise, frequent storm events and past construction of individual seawalls and shoreline armoring.

In consultation with the Maui County Planning Department, the Kahana Bay Steering Committee (KBSC) plans to restore, rehabilitate and preserve the sandy beach along Kahana Bay by nourishing it with 50,000-100,000 cubic yards of sand transported from previously identified offshore sources.

The plan also envisages constructing structures that extend from the shoreline seaward to retain the nourished sand and stabilize the beach.

This beach nourishment project would widen the existing beach by 35150 feet (approximately 50 feet average width).

The additional sand would provide an erosion buffer by absorbing and dissipating wave energy while enlarging the amount of dry beach area available for use by the public, residents and visitors.

KBSC represents nine oceanfront condominiums and one Kuleana parcel along the Kahana Bay coastline threatened by shoreline erosion.

The applicant is publishing a modified version of the EIS Preparation Notice originally published on March 8, 2019. Another 30-day public review and comment period starts.

The EIS will include comments and responses from all comment periods.

Comments should be sent to three parties:

The applicant: Kahana Bay Steering Committee, 10 Ho?ohui Road, Suite 201, Lahaina, HI 96761.

The approving agency/accepting authority: Department of Land and Natural Resources, State of Hawaii, Samuel Lemmo, Administrator, Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands, P.O. Box 621, Honolulu, HI 96809-0621, or Sam.j.lemmo@hawaii.gov.

And the consultant: Oceanit; 828 Fort Street Mall, Suite 600, Honolulu, HI, 96813, or kahana@oceanit.com.