Waikiki beach-renourishement, 2012. Photograph: © SAF — Coastal Care.
“Hawaii’s famed Waikiki Beach started to erode again, less than a year after the completion of a $2.2 million project to replenish the sand on about 1,730 feet of shoreline that had been suffering from chronic erosion.”Captions.
“Development is absolutely responsible for the majority of the beach nourishment,” Andrew Coburn, assistant director of The Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University, said. “Well over 99 percent of the shorelines that are nourished are developed so there is some economic value placed behind them.”
Excerpts;
While sand mining is not illegal here, some community members are concerned about the resource being depleted and shipped off-island and archaeological damage.
Mayor Alan Arakawa is among the concerned, saying the sand is needed for Maui projects and replenishing beaches.
He asked the council to revisit a 2006 study, which showed a five- to seven-year lifespan on inland dune sand if mining continued at the 2006 pace. It is time to consider a moratorium on sand exports because it is not a renewable resource..
Read Full Article, Maui News (04-29-2017)
Study to deter Maui beach erosion finds offshore sand; Hawaii Tribune Herald (06-06-2016)
300,000 cubic yards of sand have been discovered off Kahana Bay in April, and this offshore sand is intended to be dredged to re-nourish eroding beaches in west Maui…
Sunset Beach shrinking just days before popular surf contest, Oahu; Hawaii News Now (11-16-2016)
Erosion happens every year at Sunset Beach, but scientists say it’s earlier and more severe than previous years. The sudden and severe case of erosion is shocking longtime North Shore residents, especially with another big surf contest just days away…
Officials confirm some Kailua Beach Park sand is going to city golf courses; KHON2 (10-23-2016)
Kailua residents are demanding answers after a dump truck filled with sand was spotted leaving Kailua Beach Park and heading to town. Residents say it was all the more suspect because of the Kuhio Beach erosion headlines at the same time…
Kailua Beach sand project gets underway, triggers stream pollution fears; KITV (04-03-2017)
Waikiki Beach Eroding Less Than A Year After $2.2M Sand Restoration, Pacific Business News (Uploaded 01-24-2013)
A section of Hawaii’s famed Waikiki Beach is starting to erode, less than a year after the completion of a $2.2 million project to replenish the sand on about 1,730 feet of shoreline that had been suffering from chronic erosion.
70 Percent of Beaches Eroding On Hawaiian Islands Kauai, Oahu, and Maui, USGS (05-08-2012)
Scientists Urge Shoreline Retreat From Hawaii’s Eroding Beaches, EE News
Sea-level rise is a significant factor in the major shoreline change underway in Hawaii, where 52 to 72 percent of beaches on the chain of islands have eroded over the past century.
Sand, Rarer Than One Thinks: A UNEP report (GEA-March 2014)
Despite the colossal quantities of sand and gravel being used, our increasing dependence on them and the significant impact that their extraction has on the environment, this issue has been mostly ignored by policy makers and remains largely unknown by the general public.
In March 2014 The United Nations released its first Report about sand mining. “Sand Wars” film documentary by Denis Delestrac – first broadcasted on the european Arte Channel, May 28th, 2013, where it became the highest rated documentary for 2013 – expressly inspired the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to publish this 2014-Global Environmental Alert.
The Conservation Crisis No One Is Talking About, TakePart (09-21-2016)
Beaches around the world are disappearing. No, the cause isn’t sea-level rise, at least not this time. It’s a little-known but enormous industry called sand mining, which every year sucks up billions of tons of sand from beaches, ocean floors, and rivers to make everything from concrete to microchips to toothpaste…
The Economist explains: Why there is a shortage of sand; The Economist (04-24-2017)
Sand Is in Such High Demand, People Are Stealing Tons of It, By Dave Roos; HowStuffWorks (03-06-2017)
As strange as it may sound, sand is one of the world’s hottest commodities. The global construction boom has created an insatiable appetite for sand, the chief ingredient for making concrete. The problem is that sand isn’t as abundant as it used to be. And when high demand and high value meets scarcity, you open the doors to smuggling…
Sand Wars, An Investigation Documentary, By Award-Winning Filmmaker Denis Delestrac (©-2013)
