Technical Memorandum Report No. 15
Estuarine Pollution in the State of Hawaii
Doak C. Cox
December 1968
Introduction
This report summarizes progress in the first half of a 1-year study of pollution of estuaries in the State of Hawaii undertaken by the University of Hawaii for the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration contract no. 14-12-446. The study includes a) an extensive survey of the problems of pollution of estuaries throughout the state, and b) an intensive study of the ecology, the sources and extent of pollution, and the economic implications of pollution control standards at Kaneohe Bay. Responsibility for the several sub-projects that make up the study is as follows: Sub-project Manager Statewide Survey – R.J. Fuchs, Kaneohe Study Sanitary Quality- N.C. Burbank, Jr., Mineralization- K.R. Gundersen, Organics- K.E. Chave, Plankton- R. Clutter, Sedimentation- R.M. Moberly and P.F. Fan, Alternatives- L.S. Lau, Economics- J.R. Davidson. The study as a whole is coordinated by a committee composed of V. E. Brock, N. C. Burbank, Jr., D. C. Cox, J. R. Davidson, and L. S. Lau. This report presents a definition of estuaries adopted for the study, a review of estuaries in the state known or suspected of being polluted, reports on progress in the several sub-projects involving Kaneohe Bay, and a working bibliography. It should be emphasized that much of what is presented here is preliminary. Although the estuaries for study have been identified, information has not been assembled for most of them. Conclusions cannot yet be reached in most of the Kaneohe field studies. Many of the material in the bibliography have yet to be scanned. The completion of the field work and the formulation of final conclusions are, of course, the aims of the second half-year of the project. The project personnel have profited from the meetings when the study began with Harold Berkson, who was assigned to the project as project officer by the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration, and in October 1968 with H. J. Odum of the University of North Carolina, who was making an overall, more general national study of estuarine pollution.