IF YOU SUSTAINED DAMAGE FROM THE MAY 22 KONA EARTHQUAKE, FILL OUT A RESIDENTIAL DAMAGE REPORT OR COMMERCIAL DAMAGE REPORT. FOR OTHER NEEDS, PLEASE SUBMIT A REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE TO VIBRANT HAWAIʻI.
KONA LOW LOCAL RECOVERY CENTERS ARE NOW OPEN IN NAALEHU AND KEALAKEKUA - APPLY NOW FOR KONA LOW ASSISTANCE FROM FEMA AND SBA
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The views and conclusions contained in the documents and hyperlinks on this webpage should not be interpreted as representing the opinions or policies of the U.S. Government or the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and its funding sources. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute their endorsement by the U.S. Government, or the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation or its funding sources.
Click this link to join the Community Advisory Committee.
Please sign up here if you cannot volunteer to serve on the Community Advisory Committee but wish to receive periodic e-mailed updates on project milestones and events.
This project is made possible through a $2,000,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, with funding from the Department of Defense. National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Award Award ID 0318.24.080571, U.S Department of Defense FC R 506 CFDA 12.017, Date of Award, August 13, 2024.
The Creating a Community-based Hilo Bay Resilience and Watershed Management Plan project aims to develop a plan that not only addresses the ongoing issue of water quality in Hilo Bay, but also creates a data-informed roadmap for stewarding the State's largest watershed area. While the emphasis is on nature-based solutions, all alternatives for ensuring coastal resilience will be considered.
Click image below to open the map.
Draft Literature Review and Data Gap Analysis Committee Review June 4, 2026.
Draft Literature Review and Data Gap Analysis compiled by three of Lynker Corporation's subcontractors for discussion and review by the County and the Community Advisory Committee.
Background: The 2005 Hilo Bay Watershed-Based Restoration Plan was not approved as a Watershed Management Plan due in large part to insufficient data. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicated that additional technical studies including water quality monitoring, was needed to complete a data-informed Watershed Management Plan.
Since 2005, many organizations, the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo in particular, have continued to contribute to data reporting on Hilo Bay and the watershed. The County asked its contractor to compile available data and to identify data gaps needed to complete the technical studies needed for a meaningful management plan.
Click this link to join the Community Advisory Committee.
A volunteer advisory committee of community members, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and government agencies is providing advisory guidance to the Department of Research and Development, the County, and the planning team throughout the project.
The following committee members - individuals and organizations - have provided permission to list their names on this site. Many more are involved.
Please note that this webpage may contain links to, or references to, third-party websites, businesses, organizations, and services who have volunteered to serve on the Community Advisory Committee for the Hilo Bay Resilience and Watershed Management Plan project. The inclusion of any link or mention of a business, organization, product, or service on this website does not constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation, or approval by the project funder, the County of Hawaii, or any of its departments, officers, or employees. Who has no control over the content, accuracy, or availability of external websites and assumes no responsibility or liability for any information, products, or services found on such sites.
All projects under this program must demonstrate dual benefits to both coastal communities and habitats. The NCRF supports projects that will result in the creation and/or restoration of natural systems to increase the resilience of communities from coastal hazards and improve habitats for fish and wildlife species.
Award decisions will be made based on regional circumstances and needs, but all proposals must address the following priorities:
Further priority will be given to projects that demonstrate:
The new Community-based Hilo Bay Resilience and Watershed Management Plan will build on the considerable work already completed by community, educational, and agency partners.
Guiding Documents for the Community-Based Hilo Bay Resilience and Watershed Management Plan project:
Section 319 NPS Pollution Project: Kolekole to Wailuku Watersheds, Island of Hawaiʻi - Watershed Stabilization and Water Quality Improvement on Former Sugarcane Lands of the Hilo Coast.
Alenaio Stream, Island of Hawaii, Harbors and Rivers in Hawaii: Final Survey Report and Environmental Impact Statement, USACE, 1982
Hilo Bay nautical chart - The marine chart shows depth and hydrology of Hilo Bay on the map, which is located in Hawaii (Hawaiʻi). Coordinates: 19.72709947, -155.07817984.
Watershed Maps and Water Body Conditions
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - National Levee Database
Hawaiʻi Ocean and Coastal Resilience
Hawaiʻi Natural Resource Protection Plans
Water Quality Plans
Wastewater
Water Supply
Agriculture
Best Management Practices
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands
Downtown Hilo
Note: links for County documents are temporarily inactive due to current 508 compliance activities.
Community Disaster Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plans
Invasive Species
Economic Development Infrastructure
Environmental Services
Through interesting conversations Jason Scott Lee learns about Hawaiʻi’s fragile fresh water supply and discovers connections to our upland forest environment.
Hawaiʻi Coastal Zone Management
Managing Watersheds for Coral Reefs and Public Health: A Vibrant Oceans Initiative Whitepaper. This paper presents innovative solutions that incentivize the large-scale, sustained action required to both improve water quality in watersheds and prevent water quality impacts on coral reef ecosystems. The solutions use holistic approaches to integrated watershed management that bridge social and ecological systems and provide important co-benefits to human well-being.
Ua Hilo ʻia i ke Ao a ke Aloha, the intertwining stories of Hilo. Story map prepared by the Historic Hawaii Foundatation, Cultural Surveys Hawaii, and UH Hilo, 2021
Nature-based solutions are actions to protect, sustainably manage, or restore natural or modified ecosystems to address societal challenges, simultaneously providing benefits for people and the environment.
United Nations Environment Assembly. 2020. Resolution adopted by the United Nations Environment Assembly on 2 March 2022—Nature-based solutions for supporting sustainable development, UNEP/EA.5/Res.5.
NOAA Coastal Flood Exposure Mapper
The Nature Conservancy Resilient Land Mapping Tool
This tool is designed to explore and analyze the Resilient and Connected Network, a proposed conservation network of representative climate-resilient sites designed to sustain biodiversity and ecological functions into the future unde.r a changing climate
Natural Resources Management
Smart Sustainable Communities