When beach waters turn brown with runoff after heavy rain, the state Department of Health Clean Water Branch posts advisories, as it did Thursday on Maui for a stretch of coastline from Waihee to Hookipa Beach Park, warning people to stay out “because, based on previous data, we know brown water almost always exceeds bacteria advisory levels for risk of illness,” said Myron Honda, supervisor of the branch’s monitoring and analysis section.
However, because clear nearshore waters also can contain invisible microorganisms at risky levels, the branch routinely tests the ocean at popular beaches on Maui, Oahu, Kauai and the Big Island for enterococcus, a bacterium that indicates the presence of fecal pathogens, which can cause gastroenteritis and ear, eye and upper respiratory infections.
If lab tests, which require 24 hours, show enterococcus levels exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s threshold of 130 enterococci per 100 milliliters, at which there’s higher risk of illness, Honda said, the branch places warning signs on the beach and posts online advisories on its website, as well as via same-day emails to people who sign up for the free service.
However, instead of posting signs and advisories the day after sampling, the department wants to wait an extra day, a change proposed in a modified version of its Hawaii Beach Monitoring Program for which it’s seeking public comment through May 1.
Under the current program, sample- takers already return the next day to retest beaches where high levels were found; it’s delaying advisories for the extra day in order to vet the results of follow-up testing, which is “the major change,” Honda said.
The reason, he said, is that a review of the data since 2017, when the branch’s testing program began, “found that the majority of our second-day samples did not exceed the Beach Action Value (advisory level).”
He added that the branch wants to “avoid the ‘shouldn’t have gone in the water yesterday’ dilemma” — meaning ocean users fretting that they unknowingly entered contaminated waters when that really wasn’t the case.
The proposed modifications got an unintended test run last week when subscribers received an email Wednesday stating that a high bacteria advisory count (150 enterococci/100 ml) had been issued and signs posted at Kahanamoku Beach in Waikiki, based on tests of samples taken Monday. Under current protocols the advisories should have been issued Tuesday.
Asked why that didn’t happen, Honda said, “It was an anomaly, a technical glitch.” The Kahanamoku Beach advisory was canceled Thursday.
MAUI RESIDENT Christine Roberson, vice chairwoman of Surfrider Foundation’s Maui Chapter, said that while the nonprofit understands the Health Department’s dilemma, which it faces with its own beach- water testing, the organization believes the public should be informed of any problems as soon as possible.
“I am concerned that the proposed changes from the HDOH would cause a dangerous delay in getting information to our community,” said Roberson, one of the Surfrider Blue Water Task Force volunteers who collect samples of beach waters along Maui’s north shore from Waihee to Peahi, take them to a lab for testing and post the results the next day at bwtf.surfrider.org.
Surfrider Maui’s most recent tests, done Tuesday, found a high bacteria level — 135 enterococci/100 ml — for only one area, Wailuku Stream at Paukukalo; the other 17 recreational beaches it tests on Maui showed low or moderate levels.
Other times, Roberson added, they have found “extremely high bacteria levels,” for instance at Maliko Bay in Haiku, which registered a moderate 98 on Tuesday but an alarming 1,565 on Feb. 10.
At such times, Roberson said, the task force and the Health Department have teamed up. “The state performed follow-up testing to confirm our results, and we worked together to ensure the site was posted with warning signs where recreational users would see them and be warned of the health risk.”
She added that doing more testing and continuing to post results as quickly as possible could indicate patterns that would help the public make more informed choices of where to go on any given day.
“I understand that a lot of times we’re only getting data about past conditions,” said Christina Comfort, Blue Water Task Force coordinator for Oahu.
She had a suggestion: “Maybe (DOH) could consider changing the signage, saying, “Yesterday bacteria levels were high here, and we’re retesting.”
AFTER ITS most recent round of testing, Feb. 29, Surfrider’s Oahu chapter posted high bacteria levels of 6,586 at Kuliouou Stream, 1,917 at Wailupe Stream, 171 at Paiko Lagoon, 4,034 at Magic Island Canoe Launch, 336 at Ala Moana Bowls, 185 at Point Panic Stairs, 231 at Waialae Beach Park and 397 at Kahaluu.
Surfers, paddlers and other beachgoers are always interested in this information, as expressed by their comments on Surfrider’s social media accounts, Comfort said.
Honda said the department wanted to avoid sounding undue alarm, “because basically what we’re talking about is sewage in the water.” But in the absence of sewage spills, he added, sudden high bacteria counts tend to vanish as quickly as they appear.
In these cases, “we don’t have time to investigate what the source may be, whether human or animal,” Honda said.
However, he said, studies have shown enterococci can proliferate in dry beach sand above the normal high-tide mark. In places with really big surf such as the north shore of Maui, strong wave action sometimes reaches the dry sand and washes the bacteria into the ocean — a possible reason for occasional high counts.
Under the proposed modification, the public will still get a heads-up via postings of high bacterial levels on the branch’s website and emails; these, however, will be called notifications rather than advisories, and people will be told that retesting is being done, Honda said. He urged people to sign up for notification emails.
Due to concerns about the coronavirus, the Health Department canceled its planned public informational meetings on the proposed changes that were to be held on four islands. Written comments may be submitted no later than May 1 via email to cleanwaterbranch@doh.hawaii.gov or by mail to Clean Water Branch, 2827 Waimano Home Road, Room 225, Pearl City, HI 96782.
Advisories at Maui's Ti… by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd
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CURRENT BEACH ADVISORY PROCESS
When beach action value (BAV) exceeds 130 enterococci per 100 ml for sample collected previous day:
Day 1
>> Post advisory on Clean Water Branch website and email subscribers.
>> Post signs at beach informing public of elevated bacteria and potential risk of exposure to pathogens.
>> Collect follow-up sample.
Day 2 and beyond
>> Collect followup samples daily until BAV falls below 130.
>> When BAV falls below 130, close advisory on website and email subscribers about advisory removal, remove signs at beach.
PROPOSED REVISED BEACH ADVISORY PROCESS
When BAV exceeds 130 enterococci per 100 ml for sample collected previous day:
Day 1
>> Post notification on website and email noting high BAV and retesting.
>> Collect follow-up sample.
Day 2
If BAV in follow-up sample is greater than 130:
>> Post advisory on website and email.
>> Post signs at beach.
>> Collect follow-up samples daily until BAV falls below 130.
If BAV in follow-up sample is less than 130:
>> Update notification on website and email subscribers noting BAV was not exceeded.
Source: State Department of Health Clean Water Branch
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PUBLIC MEETINGS CANCELED
Due to coronavirus concerns, the state Department of Health has canceled the public informational meetings scheduled to start this week on Maui, Hawaii, Kauai and Oahu on proposed changes to the Hawaii Beach Monitoring Program. The planned presentation for the meetings is posted online here.
Comments on the proposed modifications should be submitted by May 1 either by email to cleanwaterbranch@doh.hawaii.gov or by mail to Clean Water Branch, 2827 Waimano Home Road, Room 225, Pearl City, HI 96782.
