Crew member, Kukui Keliihoomalu in the forest. Kohala Mountain is a cloaked monarch crowned with a 50,000 acre cloud forest that feeds the streams of Kohala district and its people. The trade winds bring warm wet air into the cool mountains and create a constant source of moisture that in pre-western contact time fed the extensive Kohala field system.
Today, Kohala Mountain still provides approximately 6% (154 million gallons per day) of the sustainable yield of water for Hawaiʽi Island. The watershed is a primary source of drinking and irrigation water for North and South Kohala and parts of Hāmākua, but with an enlarged, restored watershed the potential is much greater.
Recognizing this, in 2003 DLNR, which had been working with seven other watershed projects around the state, brought the Kohala Mountain land owners and managers together. “There was a push from the DLNR to try to look at watershed forest issues on a bigger picture level as a whole. Lisa Hadway who was working within the DLNR started the momentum. They called a meeting and we found that our goals were in alignment,” said Pono Von Holt, Ponoholo Ranch owner.
Today, Kohala Mountain still provides approximately 6% (154 million gallons per day) of the sustainable yield of water for Hawaiʽi Island. The watershed is a primary source of drinking and irrigation water for North and South Kohala and parts of Hāmākua, but with an enlarged, restored watershed the potential is much greater.
Recognizing this, in 2003 DLNR, which had been working with seven other watershed projects around the state, brought the Kohala Mountain land owners and managers together. “There was a push from the DLNR to try to look at watershed forest issues on a bigger picture level as a whole. Lisa Hadway who was working within the DLNR started the momentum. They called a meeting and we found that our goals were in alignment,” said Pono Von Holt, Ponoholo Ranch owner.
Kohala Watershed seen from Kawaihae.
The land owners and managers that include: Kahuā, Parker and Ponoholo ranches, Hawaiʽi State (DLNR), Kamehameha Schools, Department of Hawaiian Homelands, Queen Emma Land Co., Laupāhoehoe Nui LLC and Surety Kohala signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and the Kohala Watershed Partnership was born.
The eighth watershed partnership to be formed statewide, the KWP consists of approximately 68,000 acres of forest and grasslands on the windward and leeward slopes of Kohala Mountain, the island’s oldest volcano.
The partners agreed that the organization would have a very limited to non-existent bureaucracy, but realizing they needed a paid staff member, they worked with a non-profit fiscal agent to hire Melora Purell as their first program coordinator.
“I sat down with each of the partners when I started the job, and the key thing I wanted to understand was why they signed on to this. I was quite blown away how it was driven by land owners and managers wanting to do what was right, what was pono for the land, the ecosystem, the forest, the watershed,” said Melora.
One of the first tasks of the KWP prior to hiring staff was to create a management plan. “The management plan was already in place when I was hired, and was really clear about what needed to be done, why it needed to be done and how it needed to be done. I had this plan in front of me and I just needed to get to work,” said Melora.
The eighth watershed partnership to be formed statewide, the KWP consists of approximately 68,000 acres of forest and grasslands on the windward and leeward slopes of Kohala Mountain, the island’s oldest volcano.
The partners agreed that the organization would have a very limited to non-existent bureaucracy, but realizing they needed a paid staff member, they worked with a non-profit fiscal agent to hire Melora Purell as their first program coordinator.
“I sat down with each of the partners when I started the job, and the key thing I wanted to understand was why they signed on to this. I was quite blown away how it was driven by land owners and managers wanting to do what was right, what was pono for the land, the ecosystem, the forest, the watershed,” said Melora.
One of the first tasks of the KWP prior to hiring staff was to create a management plan. “The management plan was already in place when I was hired, and was really clear about what needed to be done, why it needed to be done and how it needed to be done. I had this plan in front of me and I just needed to get to work,” said Melora.
Laying fence.
The Kohala Center with its current KWP Coordinator, Cody Dwight, seeks out funding and manages the “boots on the ground” work. “That's their forte being an organization that pools together these different programs and facilitates funding as well as the operation side so we can pool our goals and our time and effort,” said Pono.
First Steps
Starting at the top, the idea was to extend the forest reserve zone down the mountain by eliminating feral ungulates and installing fencing to create “exclosures” in conservation parlance. “Take the forest away from the cattle and move them down the mountain. We're going to increase the size of the watershed by several thousand acres into our ranch country and that will give us a buffer for invasives,” said Pono.
Getting the feral cattle, probably descendants from Vancouver’s time, out of the forest was no easy task. Individual efforts by the ranches in the past had not been successful, but under KWP, the three ranches, Ponoholo, Kahuā and Parker, were able to remove feral cattle from the forest. “We learned that just by the fact that we put the three ranches together in a concerted effort, we were successful in taking back a large piece of ground,” said Pono.
Fencing is the sustainable component of ungulate control. “The first fence up was on Ponoholo Ranch, about 100 acres. Right below, Parker ranch extended from that along the inside of the Honokane Valley ridge and right in to the edge of Pololū,” said Pono. “By the time we get done we'll have 3000 acres that we've taken back and in 50 years or so, it will be reforested,” he added.
First Steps
Starting at the top, the idea was to extend the forest reserve zone down the mountain by eliminating feral ungulates and installing fencing to create “exclosures” in conservation parlance. “Take the forest away from the cattle and move them down the mountain. We're going to increase the size of the watershed by several thousand acres into our ranch country and that will give us a buffer for invasives,” said Pono.
Getting the feral cattle, probably descendants from Vancouver’s time, out of the forest was no easy task. Individual efforts by the ranches in the past had not been successful, but under KWP, the three ranches, Ponoholo, Kahuā and Parker, were able to remove feral cattle from the forest. “We learned that just by the fact that we put the three ranches together in a concerted effort, we were successful in taking back a large piece of ground,” said Pono.
Fencing is the sustainable component of ungulate control. “The first fence up was on Ponoholo Ranch, about 100 acres. Right below, Parker ranch extended from that along the inside of the Honokane Valley ridge and right in to the edge of Pololū,” said Pono. “By the time we get done we'll have 3000 acres that we've taken back and in 50 years or so, it will be reforested,” he added.
Koaia corridor, Kohala Mountain
Pelekane Bay Watershed:
The Pelekane Bay Watershed in Kawaihae is a graphic example of the importance of a botanically healthy watershed. The Koaiʽa Corridor, which is in the upper Pelekane Bay Watershed, runs mauka from DLNR’s Koaiʽa Tree Sanctuary on Kohala Mountain Road and is a two mile riparian corridor of about 300 acres nestled between Waiakamali and Luahine streams. Down slope in the lower Pelekane Bay Watershed, the two streams eventually merge into Makeahua stream that in turn empties into Pelekane Bay.
The watershed needs a layered diversity of plants to capture and absorb the rains otherwise sediment-filled water flows down the mountainside and into the ocean. Standing on the Koaiʽa Tree Sanctuary fence-line, the contrast is stunning. Inside the sanctuary are groves of koaiʽa, large healthy ohia and lower canopy natives. Outside the fence is a windswept grassland.
Once a canopied forest, the lower Pelekane Bay Watershed is almost completely devoid of vegetation and is severely eroded. “This mountain all used to look like the Koaiʽa Tree Sanctuary,” said Cody. The consequences of the denuded watershed can easily be seen in Pelekane Bay. Once a biologically diverse estuary, Pelekane Bay has been inundated with sediment washed down the drastically eroded mountainside.
“To protect the coral reef we have to stabilize this mountain from eroding. Get some vegetation to grow in critical erosion areas,” said Cody. The main obstacle to this is a large uncontrolled herd of feral goats that live in the watershed. “The goats live in gulches and they eat the grass from the top and then they go back down into the gulches,” said Cody.
A temporary measure to control erosion while working towards revegetation is the installation of check dams, which are constructed as wire and cloth-wrapped rock walls in key drainages, and are capable of holding up to 10 tons of sediment. In August 2015 a large brush fire followed a week later by a brief, intense storm event put those check dams to the test. “It was like a perfect storm event. Those sediment check dams we had in place all filled up,” said Cody.
Changes in water quality are being monitored by cooperating conservation partners, The Nature Conservancy and NOAA. “The water quality has improved. Changes in Pelekane Bay. Changes on the landscape. These areas are looking a lot better,” said Cody.
The Pelekane Bay Watershed in Kawaihae is a graphic example of the importance of a botanically healthy watershed. The Koaiʽa Corridor, which is in the upper Pelekane Bay Watershed, runs mauka from DLNR’s Koaiʽa Tree Sanctuary on Kohala Mountain Road and is a two mile riparian corridor of about 300 acres nestled between Waiakamali and Luahine streams. Down slope in the lower Pelekane Bay Watershed, the two streams eventually merge into Makeahua stream that in turn empties into Pelekane Bay.
The watershed needs a layered diversity of plants to capture and absorb the rains otherwise sediment-filled water flows down the mountainside and into the ocean. Standing on the Koaiʽa Tree Sanctuary fence-line, the contrast is stunning. Inside the sanctuary are groves of koaiʽa, large healthy ohia and lower canopy natives. Outside the fence is a windswept grassland.
Once a canopied forest, the lower Pelekane Bay Watershed is almost completely devoid of vegetation and is severely eroded. “This mountain all used to look like the Koaiʽa Tree Sanctuary,” said Cody. The consequences of the denuded watershed can easily be seen in Pelekane Bay. Once a biologically diverse estuary, Pelekane Bay has been inundated with sediment washed down the drastically eroded mountainside.
“To protect the coral reef we have to stabilize this mountain from eroding. Get some vegetation to grow in critical erosion areas,” said Cody. The main obstacle to this is a large uncontrolled herd of feral goats that live in the watershed. “The goats live in gulches and they eat the grass from the top and then they go back down into the gulches,” said Cody.
A temporary measure to control erosion while working towards revegetation is the installation of check dams, which are constructed as wire and cloth-wrapped rock walls in key drainages, and are capable of holding up to 10 tons of sediment. In August 2015 a large brush fire followed a week later by a brief, intense storm event put those check dams to the test. “It was like a perfect storm event. Those sediment check dams we had in place all filled up,” said Cody.
Changes in water quality are being monitored by cooperating conservation partners, The Nature Conservancy and NOAA. “The water quality has improved. Changes in Pelekane Bay. Changes on the landscape. These areas are looking a lot better,” said Cody.
Pono von Holt on his Ponoholo Ranch
Field crew captain, Haia Aweloa walking the Pelekane watershed section. Creating Conditions for Growth
The ultimate goal is to have a re-vegetated watershed, but to do this it is necessary to remove invasive plants and create positive conditions for the native plants that previously populated the watershed. Propagating and out-planting, along with fencing, invasive plant control and anything else that needs to get done, is the job of the four person KWP field crew.
Crew leader Haia Auweloa, Kukui Keliʽihoʽomalu, Jordon Wills and new volunteer crew member Makaliʽi Bertelmann and I drive up Kohala Mountain Road and enter the lower Pelekane Bay Watershed. The crew spreads out to survey the area and find several aʽaliʽi with mature seeds, which are collected and taken to the State Tree Nursery where plants are propagated for future out-planting. “In the Koaiʽa Corridor we have about 60,000 plants already and below we have about 20,000 plants,” said Haia.
When they’re ready to be planted the seedlings will go through a couple of stages of acclimation. At the nursery they’re set outside in a semi-sheltered area and watering is continued. The next step is to take them up to the watershed for planting, where they are sheltered by tall grass and will continue to receive water through a temporary irrigation system fed from water tanks and when established, the plants will stop receiving irrigation.
The ultimate goal is to have a re-vegetated watershed, but to do this it is necessary to remove invasive plants and create positive conditions for the native plants that previously populated the watershed. Propagating and out-planting, along with fencing, invasive plant control and anything else that needs to get done, is the job of the four person KWP field crew.
Crew leader Haia Auweloa, Kukui Keliʽihoʽomalu, Jordon Wills and new volunteer crew member Makaliʽi Bertelmann and I drive up Kohala Mountain Road and enter the lower Pelekane Bay Watershed. The crew spreads out to survey the area and find several aʽaliʽi with mature seeds, which are collected and taken to the State Tree Nursery where plants are propagated for future out-planting. “In the Koaiʽa Corridor we have about 60,000 plants already and below we have about 20,000 plants,” said Haia.
When they’re ready to be planted the seedlings will go through a couple of stages of acclimation. At the nursery they’re set outside in a semi-sheltered area and watering is continued. The next step is to take them up to the watershed for planting, where they are sheltered by tall grass and will continue to receive water through a temporary irrigation system fed from water tanks and when established, the plants will stop receiving irrigation.
The Watershed is our Kumu
The Kohala Watershed has become an outdoor classroom and laboratory for Kohala’s children. Kohala Center’s Mahina Patterson coordinates place-based, hands-on science classes in the watershed. “Because the Kohala Watershed Partnership is housed at the Kohala Center, we have this resource to share with the community,” said Mahina.
Being in the watershed allows learners to explore independently and make observations. “I ask students: ‘What do you see inside the fenced unit versus the outside landscape?’ We read the story that the land has to tell us,” said Mahina.
Students also get an opportunity to think and act like scientists. “Another great lesson is biodiversity. What are the species here and what are we seeing? They get to experience doing real science using scientific tools, such as a transect,” said Mahina.
The watershed also gives students the opportunity to experience restoration work and to grapple with its challenges. “I was on Puʽu Pili with a group of Kohala Middle School students, learning about pig trapping and ginger control. It was an opportunity to show them why fences are important. Let's together look at the effects of the pigs on the forest, do ungulate surveys. Real science,” said Mahina.
The watershed also educates the heart and fosters gratitude. “It’s just so beautiful and so different that even kids that had a bad attitude when they got into the van, when they get there, everything shifts,” said Mahina.
The KWP is a shining example of what can be accomplished through the sharing of a vision and the willingness to lend our hands and hearts to reclaim our source of life.
The Kohala Watershed has become an outdoor classroom and laboratory for Kohala’s children. Kohala Center’s Mahina Patterson coordinates place-based, hands-on science classes in the watershed. “Because the Kohala Watershed Partnership is housed at the Kohala Center, we have this resource to share with the community,” said Mahina.
Being in the watershed allows learners to explore independently and make observations. “I ask students: ‘What do you see inside the fenced unit versus the outside landscape?’ We read the story that the land has to tell us,” said Mahina.
Students also get an opportunity to think and act like scientists. “Another great lesson is biodiversity. What are the species here and what are we seeing? They get to experience doing real science using scientific tools, such as a transect,” said Mahina.
The watershed also gives students the opportunity to experience restoration work and to grapple with its challenges. “I was on Puʽu Pili with a group of Kohala Middle School students, learning about pig trapping and ginger control. It was an opportunity to show them why fences are important. Let's together look at the effects of the pigs on the forest, do ungulate surveys. Real science,” said Mahina.
The watershed also educates the heart and fosters gratitude. “It’s just so beautiful and so different that even kids that had a bad attitude when they got into the van, when they get there, everything shifts,” said Mahina.
The KWP is a shining example of what can be accomplished through the sharing of a vision and the willingness to lend our hands and hearts to reclaim our source of life.
Students investigating the watershed.
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