HBR Board Meeting
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
Makena Coffman
Director for the Institute for Sustainability and Resilience and Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning University of Hawaii at Mānoa, Research Fellow, UHERO
Makena Coffman, Director of the Institute for Sustainability and Resilience, Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and Research Fellow at UHERO, joined the HBR Board Meeting on Tuesday, July 18 to deliver an informative briefing.
With the ever-increasing threat of rising sea levels, Makena discussed the importance of learning more about sea level rise strategies to mitigate potential damage. She shared with HBR members the University of Hawaii’s’ Costs and Tradeoffs of Coastal Retreat in Response to Sea Level Rise: A Case Study of the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Their study assessed the costs of three types of retreat: all-at-once, threshold-based, and reactive.
All-at-once
Most expensive
Largest public financial cost
Private owners best off financially
Threshold-based
Lower financial cost
Lower environmental and public safety risk
Reactive
Lowest public financial cost
Highest financial cost for private owners
High risk to public safety and the environment
Rising sea levels can lead to coastal erosion and increased flooding. Makena shared photos of the different types of flooding Hawaii has faced: Passing Flooding in Mapunapuna, Oʻahu of August 2019, Coastal Erosion on the East Shore, Oahu of April 2020 and Paumalū, Oʻahu of February 2022, and Wave Flooding in Keauhou, Hawai'i of July 2022.
Sea level rise will also impact human populations and result in the displacement of communities in low-lying areas. Makena emphasized the importance of taking action to prevent further sea level rise and its harmful effects on both the environment and society.
By utilizing a combination of these strategies, we can help mitigate the impact of sea level rise and protect our coastlines for future generations.