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Environmental education grant awarded to the Hanalei Watershed Hui on Kauai

Release Date: 10/04/2006
Contact Information: Dean Higuchi, 808-541-2711, higuchi.dean@epa.gov

(10/04/06) Allows local schools to study sediment pollution

HONOLULU – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded $17,357 to the Hanalei Watershed Hui of Hanalei, Kauai to support environmental education projects.

“Sedimentation is harmful to ocean life and is a critical environmental issue in Hawai’i,” said Wayne Nastri, regional administrator of the EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. “It is vital to educate students and residents on how to prevent it from happening in their community.”

The Hanalei program will focus on sediment pollution and erosion control in the Hanalei watershed. The program will teach 200 5th and 6th graders on the North Shore of Kauai what causes sediment pollution in the Hawaiian watershed, what effects it has on fresh water and coral reef ecosystems, and how the pollution can be controlled.

The hands-on stewardship experience will combine classroom learning with outdoor experiences. Students will work together to conduct field research on a local trail to assess the sediment and erosion problems.

Students will design and implement a traditional restoration project that will reduce erosion on the trail. In a final reflective phase, the students will develop reports and presentations that they will share locally and on their website.

The project is funded by the EPA’s Environmental Education grant program. The Hawai’i grant is part of over $180,000 that the EPA awarded to organizations throughout California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and the Pacific.

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