Characteristics of Water Quality in Anchialine Ponds of Kona, Hawaii Coast

Abstract

A study of the water quality characteristics of anchialine ponds of the Kona, Hawaii, coast suggests that groundwater is a major source of dissolved nutrients for these systems. These groundwater sources apparently show high spatial and temporal variability with respect to dissolved nutrients. Changes are apparent in the water quality characteristics of one anchialine pond system that has been subjected to considerable surrounding development. These changes are within the range of natural variability suggesting that this perturbation, at least over the short term (ca. 9 years), is not damaging since these nutrients frequently occur naturally in excess of concentrations which would control biological processes. Within an anchialine pond system that we have studied, spatial variability in water quality may be explained by a simple model of groundwater dilution with proximity to the sea.