Thank you to the Star-Advertiser for airing the needed dialogue regarding shoreline setbacks and seawalls. Climate change and its impacts such as sea level rise will play an increasingly important role in local discussions as the effects become even more apparent.

Hawaii’s beaches and coastal waters are valuable, publicly owned resources that are integral to our history and way of life. So much so that the public trust doctrine is enshrined in the Hawaii Constitution. By law, the state, counties and all of their subsidiaries must act as a fiduciary to ensure the conservation and protection of Hawaii’s natural resources (including beaches) for present and future generations.

Less than 1% of Hawaii’s residents live on the shoreline, but the beaches are for everyone.

Unfortunately, the proliferation of seawalls, sandbags and other forms of hardening have caused accelerated erosion, beach narrowing, and beach loss. These conditions create a hazardous setting for the public, and wash away our environmental heritage.

Under the Hawaii Coastal Zone Management Act (HRS 205A), the counties are authorized to regulate shoreline setbacks and coastal development. Among its numerous objectives: “Ensure that coastal dependent development and coastal related development are located, designed, and constructed to minimize exposure to coastal hazards and adverse social, visual, and environmental impacts in the coastal zone management area.”

There is virtually nothing in current law supporting the notion that the coastal setback should be tailored for private property owners to maximize the use of their property at the expense of the public’s enjoyment of the beach and the perpetuity of the shoreline.

Losing land to the ocean is an inherent risk that property owners assume when they choose to live on the coast. Having enjoyed the benefit of shoreline living, at some future point they must accept the outcome.

We must take action now to preserve what we have left and allow for shorelines to naturally migrate where feasible and in the public interest. At the same time, our society must pursue other policy tools to help our communities get out of harm’s way.

Bill 41, now before the City Council, would increase the coastal setback from 40 to 60 feet, and for lots experiencing erosion, would add an additional buffer of 70 multiplied by the annual erosion rate for that beach.

The buffer zone accounts for the lifetime of the proposed structure but also includes cushioning for the uncertainty of sea level rise. The use of historical erosion rates almost certainly underestimates the actual amount of coastal erosion we will see over the next 70 years. Because of this underestimation, increasing the baseline from 40 to 60 feet and including a rate-based setback is a reasonable way to incorporate this uncertainty. Combined, the maximum setback cannot exceed 130 feet.

The proposed law is being treated by some as a denial of land rights. This is not true. The bill applies to new development, and to major renovations only. It does not outlaw existing buildings, nor does it deny owners from passing their land to future generations.

ARCHITECT Bill Eiserloh testified that scientific projections of sea level rise impacts are inaccurate. But these projections have been peer-reviewed by scientists across the globe and published in prestigious scientific journals based on their credibility.

Eiserloh also proposes that houses be built on stilts to avoid erosion. However, as the shoreline passes beneath these homes they will automatically become state property and likely torn down, as required in Texas by the “Open Beaches Act.”

Various agencies and the University of Hawaii have been publicly discussing the potential impacts of sea level rise for years. In fact, the City Council has adopted several plans that specify the need for an increased setback, including the 2019 Oahu Resilience Strategy.

The current legislative process on Bill 41 allows for robust community discussion on this issue. Councilmembers need to hear from people across Oahu who use and treasure beaches and would like to see them conserved and protected.

Furthermore, the shoreline setback is a small regulatory tool used by the counties. We also need larger scale policy tools from the state Legislature that will help local families move out of harm’s way, away from the unrelenting sea as it rises. These policy tools have been discussed for many years; among them are transferable development rights, land swaps, eminent domain, rolling easements and revolving funds.

We are stepping into a future that holds unprecedented changes in our environment. Most oceanfront properties were developed during an era when the potential for over 6 feet of sea level rise was incomprehensible. But that is our reality now. It is our responsi- bility to understand the impacts of this reality, to protect the public trust, and step back from the ocean.

Chip Fletcher, Ph.D., is interim dean of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii-Manoa; Colin Lee is a climate change and resiliency policy analyst, UH-Manoa Climate Resilience Collaborative.