ASSESSMENT OF STAKEHOLDER PERCEPTIONS OF OCEAN HAZARD RISK FOR COASTAL INFRASTRUCTURE/ROADWAYS, MAUI COUNTY, HAWAI‘I

Abstract

Coastal roads in Maui County are at-risk of sea level rise and related coastal hazards. These coastal roads are often the only way people can travel, so the inundation and deterioration of coastal roads increases communities’ vulnerability in emergency situations and negatively impacts local economies and the everyday life of residents. Recognizing the urgency of this issue, Maui County and HDOT asked the University of Hawaii Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (UH CEE), Coastal Hydraulics Engineering Resilience (CHER) lab at University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa for assistance on creating a plan to adapt coastal county roads for future coastal hazard scenarios, which is necessary for federal funding. To inform this project’s engineering design, a stakeholder assessment is required to ensure the most sustainable and culturally-sensitive development option is recommended. The assessment also helps Maui and the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) identify stakeholder needs. In addition to semi-structured interviews with all levels of stakeholders, a questionnaire ranking all possible coastal adaptation options was given. This project is focused on the islands of Maui and Molokai. Lāna‘i is not included, as the island does not have any coastal county roads. A total of 112 subjects were interviewed and 102 stakeholders responded to the survey. Given the large dataset created from this assessment, we describe and analyze an example of each figure/table created using the Native Hawaiian (41 subjects in the oral interview, 13 respondents to the survey) and West Maui (35 respondents to the survey) stakeholder groups. Results of the stakeholder assessment contain 1) stakeholder preferences of coastal road adaptation options, 2) areas and roads of stakeholder concern, 3) stakeholder desires surrounding coastal issues, 4) tools and information needed for stakeholders to prepare for coastal disasters and road disruptions, 5) identified barriers and limitations to adaptation, 6) information on current and upcoming stakeholder and government actions to increase resilience, and 7) information on government-resident experiences. The application of the results is shown through a case study where data is used to identify an issue and make recommendations to improve organizational efficiency within Maui County for infrastructure coordination. Our initial findings show the County of Maui Public Works is aware of the areas and roads stakeholders are concerned about, and the Native Hawaiian stakeholder group prefers nature-based solutions over engineered ones, no matter the financial cost. Future work includes publication of the dataset for public use, further analysis of the data, and inclusion of stakeholder opinions as a parameter in CRESI. By incorporating community perspectives and providing an outlet for resident voices, the CHER lab’s adaptation recommendations aim to gain community support and receptiveness, which is critical to an infrastructure project’s success.