The Bicker Board

[Wao nahele wahine]

Plenty of beaches on Oahu.

From the Star Advertiser article:

Researchers estimate that roughly a quarter of the beaches on Oahu, Maui and Kauai have already been lost or substantially narrowed because of seawalls over the past century. That has left less coastal habitat for endangered monk seals to haul up and rest and sea turtles to lay eggs. By midcentury, experts predict, the state will be down to just a handful of healthy beaches as climate change causes sea levels to rise at unprecedented rates.

and this:

Still, the Department of Land and Natural Resources has begun making some changes due to concerns about climate change. Last year, for the first time, the agency reduced the term of a new easement, from 55 years to 25 years. Officials say they now “typically” abide by the lower limit for new easements, though property owners can extend them. “In 25 years time, they can apply for another one,” said Chris Yuen, a longtime member of the state land board, which oversees the department. “It gives a chance to look at it before the 55 years is up.”

Critics say the change is not enough.

Chip Fletcher, a coastal geologist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and the leading expert on beach loss in Hawaii, said easements and other exemptions were perpetuating irresponsible development. More than 6,500 shoreline structures, including hotels, businesses and homes, are projected to be lost or damaged with 3.2 feet of sea level rise, which could occur by 2060, according to state Opens in a new tabprojections Opens in a new tab. The Waimanalo property, Fletcher said, was a good example of a residential lot that is no longer fit for habitation.

“Why are we, on the one hand, warning the public about climate change and professing to value beaches,” he said, “and on the other hand allowing major renovations of a shoreline that was on its way out?”