The Lower Heʻeia Watershed is located on windward Oahu and includes the lower reaches of Heʻeia Stream, several small tributaries, the stream-mouth estuary, and adjacent coral reef habitat within Kaneohe Bay. The Lower Heʻeia Stream Project was selected as a 2015 Water to Watch. Starting with a Community Conservation Plan in 2009, the Hawaiʻi FHP collaborated with local conservation groups to provide seven finanical assistance awards totaling over $465,000 for technical assistance and on-the-ground aquatic habitat restoration at multiple locations within the Lower Heʻeia Watershed.
This is a community-based aquatic habitat restoration project to remove invasive vegetation, remove non-structural barriers to migratory fish, and restore native riparian vegetation. The project will also restore local hydrological conditions in adjacent waterways that are important for traditional Hawaiian agricultural practices.
Human Interest/Community Benefit:
The aquatic ecosystems within the Lower Heʻeia Watershed once supported abundant fishery resources and over 200 acres of wetland and riparian agriculture. Restoration of stream, estuarine and coastal fisheries, and re-establishment of traditional Hawaiian agricultural practices throughout the project area, are important components of the Lower Heʻeia Watershed project.
Project Timeline:
Seven projects supported between 2009-2022, combined total over $465,000 in federal assistance funds administered through the Hawaiʻi FHP.
Partners:
The Nature Conservancy – Hawaiʻi Marine Program
Hui O Koʻolaupoko (community non-profit organization)
Kakoʻo ʻOiwi (community non-profit organization)
Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve
Hawaiʻi DLNR – Division of State Parks
Retrospective Selection
The Lower Heʻeia Watershed is located on windward Oahu and includes the lower reaches of Heʻeia Stream, several small tributaries, the stream-mouth estuary, and adjacent coral reef habitat within Kaneohe Bay. The Lower Heʻeia Stream Project was selected as a 2015 Water to Watch.
Starting with a Community Conservation Plan in 2009, the Hawaiʻi FHP collaborated with local conservation groups to provide seven finanical assistance awards totaling over $465,000 for technical assistance and on-the-ground aquatic habitat restoration at multiple locations within the Lower Heʻeia Watershed. Federal assistance funds administered through the Hawaii FHP originated from the National Fish Habitat Partnership, the FWS National Fish Passage Program, and the FWS Fisheries and Aquatic Conservation Habitat Program funds. Funding provided by the Hawaii FHP was highly leveraged with concurrent federal grants from other agencies and non-federal matching funds.
The Lower Heʻeia Watershed is included within the Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR). The Heʻeia NERR was established in 2017 and is the most recent addition to the National Estuarine Research Reserve system. The designation includes wetlands adjacent to Heʻeia stream and coral reefs extending into Kaneohe Bay. The NERR was established as a result of a multi-year collaboration by partners representing land managers from non-profit organizations, State and federal agencies, University of Hawaii researchers, native Hawaiian organizations, and the local community.
Restoration activities in the Lower Heʻeia Watershed supported by the Hawaiʻi FHP include:
• Community Conservation Action Plan development
• Flood stage inundation mapping
• Stream channel restoration
• Invasive vegetation removal
• Removal of non-structural barriers to enhance fish passage
• Estuary shoreline restoration
• Native plant restoration
• Monitoring and assessment of native fish and aquatic invertebrates
• Biological community composition assessment using eDNA