Decision analysis to support wastewater management in coral reef priority area

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1 School of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawaii at Manoa, MANOA, HI, United States
2 Safe Drinking Water Branch, Hawaii Department of Health, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
3 Hawaiʻi Marine Program, The Nature Conservancy, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
4 West Maui Ridge to Reef Initiative, Wailuku, Hawaii, United States
5 Pacific Islands Contact Office, United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 9, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
DOI
10.7287/peerj.preprints.27470v1
Published
Accepted
Subject Areas
Biodiversity, Conservation Biology, Marine Biology
Keywords
decision science, conservation, cost efficiency, effective management, spatial planning, ecosystem services
Copyright
© 2019 Barnes et al.
Licence
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Cite this article
Barnes MD, Goodell W, Whittier R, Falinski KA, Callender T, Htun H, LeViol C, Slay H, Oleson KLL. 2019. Decision analysis to support wastewater management in coral reef priority area. PeerJ Preprints 7:e27470v1

Abstract

A cocktail of land-based sources of pollution threatens coral reef ecosystems, and addressing these has become a key management and policy challenge in Hawaiʻi, US and territories, and globally. In West Maui, Hawaiʻi, nearly one quarter of all living corals were lost between 1995-2008. Onsite disposal systems (OSDS) for sewage are common contaminants for drinking water sources and nearshore waters. In recognition of this risk, the Hawaiʻi State Department of Health (DOH) is prioritizing areas for cesspool upgrades. Independently, we applied a decision analysis process to identify priority areas to address sewage pollution from OSDS in West Maui, with the objective of reducing nearshore coral reef exposure to pollution. The decision science approach is relevant to a broader context of coastal areas both statewide and in coastal systems worldwide which are struggling with identifying pollution mitigation actions on limited budgets.

Author Comment

This is a preprint submission to PeerJ Preprints