West Maui is lucky to have a variety of agencies monitoring the health of near-shore waters and working to keep runoff and pollutants out of the ocean.

If you love the ocean and are interested in efforts to reduce land-based pollution here, attend West Maui Ridge to Reef’s public meeting on Thursday, Aug. 30, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Hall on Fleming Road in Lahaina.

Join West Maui Ridge to Reef Partners to catch up on projects and progress, weigh in on sediment mitigation ideas from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and connect with community groups and agencies supporting ocean health.

The Army Corps is looking at solutions to mitigate sediment moving out of the gulches and streams and into near-shore waters.

There are ideas still in the conceptual phase, such as retrofitting existing sediment dams, using flocculants to settle out fine particles, removing sediment from gulch and stream banks, deep ocean outfalls for sediment and other concepts awaiting feedback by the community.

The meeting is free and open to the public. Ocean users here know problem areas better than anyone, so attend and offer input for the West Maui Watershed Management Study.

For more information, contact West Maui Watershed Coordinator Tova Callender at (808) 214-4239 or tova@westmauiR2R.com.