Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content
  • Feedback

    • Continuous water quality monitoring to determine the cause of coral reef ecosystem degradation for coastal windward Oahu streams during 2002 (NCEI Accession 0001070)

    Metadata Updated: September 2, 2025

    Kaneohe and Waimanalo streams on the windward side of the island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands have been hardened to prevent flooding. The hardening process has involved elimination of the natural riparian habitat and replacement of the natural stream channel with a concrete-lined conduit having vertical walls and a broad, flat bottom. The shallow depth of the water column and the absence of shade have resulted in temperatures that average as much as 4-5ºC above ambient and rise as high as 32ºC during daylight hours. Unlike most low-order streams, the hardened sections of both streams are autotrophic, as evidenced by elevated pH values and O2 concentrations as high as 150% of saturation. Several allochthonous inputs, one from a storm sewer and the other from a natural spring, introduced water with anomalously low O2 concentrations and very high nitrate concentrations. The absence of sediments in the hardened sections of the streams precludes natural sedimentary microbial processes, including denitrification. Nitrate concentrations in a section of Waimanalo Stream with a natural streambed drop dramatically from values in excess of 400 µM to concentrations less than 10 µM at the head of the estuary. Although some of this decline is due to dilution with seawater, the concentration of nitrate at the head of the estuary is only 10% of the value that could be explained by dilution effects. Biological processes associated with a natural streambed thus appear very important to the functionality of the streams and in particular to their ability to process allochthonous nutrient inputs in a way that minimizes impacts on the nearshore environment. Prevention of flooding can be accomplished by mechanisms that do not involve elimination of riparian buffer zones and destruction of channel habitat. To maintain water quality and stream functionality, it will be important that these alternative methods of flood control be utilized. Converting natural streams to storm sewers is an unenlightened way to address flooding problems.

    Water samples were taken at Waimanalo Stream along the Kahawai tributary and below the confluence of Kahawai and Waimanalo Streams near the mouth of the stream where it discharges into Waimanalo Bay. Most of the Waimanalo Stream stations were sampled a total of 10-12 times at roughly 3-4 week time intervals during the period February-October, 2002. Kaneohe Stream sampling was carried out at roughly three-week intervals during the period June-November, 2002. Most Kaneohe Stream stations were sampled a total of nine times.

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Date 2025-07-08T14:51:34Z
    Metadata Created Date December 4, 2020
    Metadata Updated Date September 2, 2025
    Reference Date(s) June 24, 2003 (publication), January 3, 2022 (revision)
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions

    Other Data Resources

    Graphic Preview

    Preview graphic

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date 2025-07-08T14:51:34Z
    Metadata Created Date December 4, 2020
    Metadata Updated Date September 2, 2025
    Reference Date(s) June 24, 2003 (publication), January 3, 2022 (revision)
    Responsible Party (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.nodc:0001070
    Access Constraints Cite as: Laws, Edward A.; University of Hawai'i at Mānoa (UHM) (2003). Continuous water quality monitoring to determine the cause of coral reef ecosystem degradation for coastal windward Oahu streams during 2002 (NCEI Accession 0001070). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0001070. Accessed [date]., Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
    Bbox East Long -157.71
    Bbox North Lat 21.41
    Bbox South Lat 21.36
    Bbox West Long -157.8
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded
    Graphic Preview Description Preview graphic
    Graphic Preview File https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/gfx?id=gov.noaa.nodc:0001070
    Graphic Preview Type PNG
    Harvest Object Id b6d58492-c87b-4f19-9e29-af2b6ef01388
    Harvest Source Id c084a438-6f6b-470d-93e0-16aeddb9f513
    Harvest Source Title NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions
    Licence accessLevel: Public
    Lineage
    Metadata Language eng
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-157.8, 21.36], [-157.71, 21.36], [-157.71, 21.41], [-157.8, 21.41], [-157.8, 21.36]]]}
    Progress completed
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 2002-02-04
    Temporal Extent End 2002-11-21

    Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.