{"id":161278,"date":"2022-06-24T12:18:51","date_gmt":"2022-06-24T22:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=161278"},"modified":"2022-06-24T12:20:47","modified_gmt":"2022-06-24T22:20:47","slug":"waikiki-beach-project-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/06\/24\/waikiki-beach-project-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Waik\u012bk\u012b Beach restoration project wins national award"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR<\/abbr>) \/ Waikiki Beach Special Improvement District Association (WBSIDA<\/abbr>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Designed to help increase shoreline resiliency on Oʻahu,<\/span> the Waikīkī Beach Maintenance Project was one of four beach restoration projects recognized as a “Best Restored Beach” award by the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA<\/abbr>).<\/p>\n

The national award was created to highlight the benefits of restoring beaches. Restoration increases a beach\u2019s ability to mitigate storm damage and flooding from severe storms, and naturally allows beaches to adjust to short-term sea-level rise while remaining an important part of nearshore ecosystems.<\/p>\n

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(Photo credit: DLNR<\/abbr>\/WBSIDA<\/abbr>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dolan Eversole<\/strong>, the Waikīkī Beach management coordinator at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Sea Grant College Program<\/a> (Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Sea Grant) who provided coordination, outreach and technical support for the project, described the long-term adaptation strategy for the region.<\/p>\n

“In the longer-term, planning for resilience for Waikīkī includes considering a lot of different variables including projections for sea-level rise, beach erosion, flooding and anticipated beach and coastal land use priorities,” Eversole said. “It is important we view the marine ecosystem, the coral reefs and beaches as a natural buffer to coastal hazards that require protection and regular maintenance just like other man-made protections.”<\/p>\n