High bacterial counts offshore Hookipa, Waihee
Wailuku, Waiehu streams show high bacteria levels too
Staff Writer
Water samples taken last week at north shore locations showed high bacteria levels at Hookipa and Waihee beach parks and Wailuku and Waiehu streams, according to the Surfrider Foundation’s Blue Water Task Force.
The results, which indicated bacteria levels exceeding state Department of Health water quality standards at the four locations, were from samples taken Thursday at 18 sites between Peahi and Waihee Beach Park.
Water from other locations showed low or medium levels in the testing for enterococcus, a fecal indicator bacteria from warm-blooded animals, said Christine Roberson, vice chairwoman of the Surfrider Foundation Maui Chapter.
“High enterococcus bacteria levels could be from a number of sources: It could be from cesspools, runoff after rain or land use changes, to name a few,” she said. “It did rain the afternoon and evening before we collected samples.”
The Blue Water Task Force project started on Maui in March 2017 when Alexander & Baldwin Co. was selling former sugar lands. The group began taking water samples to get a baseline for water quality in the area, Roberson said.
“We just wanted to try and get more information for people to help them make an informed decision about where they want to go swim or surf or dive or fish,” Roberson said.
She said the monthly sampling was stopped in the COVID-19 pandemic when volunteers no longer had access to a laboratory to run tests at the University of Hawaii Maui College.
After a six-month break, volunteers returned to the waters last week to collect the samples that were immediately placed in a cooler, Roberson said. She said the samples were prepared and incubated for 24 hours for the latest testing done by a marine biology class taught by UH-MC Professor Donna Brown, who has partnered with the Surfrider Foundation for the project.
At three of the locations — Waiehu and Wailuku streams and Waihee Beach Park — where high bacteria levels were measured, “historically we have seen high bacteria counts,” Roberson said.
Data show five previous times when there were high bacteria counts at Wailuku River, which had the highest result from Thursday’s sampling, and two previous times each at Wailuku River and Waihee Beach Park.
She said that possibly could be from feral pigs upstream of the sites.
“We don’t have the resources or volunteer power to hike upstream,” she said. “We just, unfortunately, don’t know what could cause it.”
For the Hookipa Beach Park west site, it was the first time high bacteria counts were measured since testing began, Roberson said.
“We don’t know if it’s an anomaly or indicative of a change,” she said. “We’re eager to keep testing and find out.”
One other time, in September 2017, a medium level of bacteria was recorded at the Hookipa west location.
Low bacteria was counted at the Hookipa Beach Park east site from the testing last week. In past testing, one high bacteria count and three medium counts were recorded at that location.
Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.