Hui O Ka Wai Ola Water Quality Data
Hui O Ka Wai Ola Water Quality Data
Posted September 24, 2018Voyager’s “water quality” category now includes an additional overlay of coastal water quality measurements sampled by a network of water quality champions known as Hui O Ka Wai Ola (Association Of The Living Waters) on the island of Maui in the State of Hawaiʻi. This group is comprised of community member volunteers, scientists, supporters, and partner groups whose aim is to “increase the capacity for monitoring water quality in Maui coastal waters by generating reliable data to assess long-term water quality conditions and detect temporal trends”.
Measurements include water temperature, salinity, turbidity (water clarity), pH, ocean chemistry (dissolved oxygen), and nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, ammonia, and others). Samples are collected and analyzed roughly every 2-3 weeks at several coastal locations across the island, while results are disseminated quarterly. With data spanning from 2016 to the present, sample sites currently include 25 locations along the west coast of Maui from Honolua in the north to Papalaua in the south. Additional sites may be added over time.
This community-based monitoring effort provides valuable data for resource management purposes, supplementing the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Health (DOH) Clean Water Branch’s (CWB) existing monitoring efforts on Maui. The Hui went through a rigorous process to establish a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) and align sampling procedures with the standards of the Department of Health Clean Water Branch and the Environmental Protection Agency. Informed volunteer networks can serve as “eyes and ears” and will often provide the first indications of changes to a system. In addition to the value of early detection, it is important to maintain ongoing monitoring efforts to compile data and document resource conditions.
Voyager screenshot of turbidity across West Maui over the past 6 months with 2-year time series plot at Kaʻanapali; click below to view in Voyager:
Hui O Ka Wai Ola is a partnership between The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Hawaiʻi, Maui Nui Marine Resource Council, and West Maui Ridge to Reef (R2R) Initiative and supported by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), Lahainaluna High School, Maui County Office of Economic Development, Maui County, North Beach-West Maui Benefit Fund, Inc., 100 Women Care, Makana Aloha Foundation, Honua-Kai West Maui Community Fund, Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, Dr. WJ Smith Family Charitable Fund, EACH Foundation, and many individual donors.
Data are publicly distributed by the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS). In addition to PacIOOS Voyager, data access is also enabled through our ERDDAP data server, which provides flexible data queries and a large variety of download formats. Formal metadata are available here.
Users of these data should cite the following publication:
Citation: Falinski, Kim, Dana Reed, Tova Callender, Emily Fielding, Robin Newbold, and Alana Yurkanin. (2018). Hui O Ka Wai Ola Water Quality Data [Data set]. Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1173717
For further information, please visit:
http://huiokawaiola.com
Photo Credit: Hui O Ka Wai Ola, Bruce Forrester
