The Nature Conservancy - Kaua'i Watershed Alliance

Kaua`i Watershed Alliance
Island of Kaua`i

Mt. Wai'ale'ale, one of the wettest spots on earth
© Douglas Peebles

Kauai’s rugged mountains intercept moist trade winds, producing a bounty of rain that replenishes the island's streams and aquifers. The summit region near Wai`ale`ale, arguably the wettest spot on earth, sits at the head of five major forested watersheds. These lush landscapes are home to thousands of native plants, birds, snails, insects, and other invertebrates that comprise Kauai’s famed biodiversity.

In 2003, nine state and private landowners, and the Kaua`i County Board of Water Supply, joined forces and formed the Kaua`i Watershed Alliance (KWA), the state's most recent watershed partnership. The Nature Conservancy Kaua`i Program was contracted by the KWA to write a watershed management plan, which was completed in April, 2005. TNC is now coordinating the implementation of an overall management strategy, detailed in the plan, to protect the 142,000 acres of partnership lands.

Our Approach
As the oldest and most remote of the populated Hawaiian Islands, Kauai’s native ecosystems are distinct and within the mountain watershed they remain largely intact. Remarkable examples of native lowland forest, rarely found elsewhere in the islands, can still be found in the remote windward valleys. Kaua`i has the highest combined number of Hawaiian endemic plants, birds, insects, and natural communities of all the native-dominated landscapes in the state.

The montane wet forest ecosystem captures the majority of the rainfall and contains the majority of Kauai’s endemic species. Preserving the health of these native ecosystems is essential to maintaining the island’s biodiversity and Cytandra cyaneoides, an endangered Kaua'i native hydrologic function. © Ken Wood/TNC

The partners, whose public and private land holdings lie within the forest reserve boundary, recognize that continuing cooperation is the key to a successful watershed management program that will safeguard this region from invasive alien plants, animals, and other threats. The members have different interests, priorities, and constituencies, but all share a common commitment to the long-term protection of Kauai’s core watershed areas.

How the Partnership Will Help the Watershed
The Alliance management plan stresses the importance of active watershed management and targets Kauai’s high elevation rain forests as the top priority for protection, in particular, the forests that lie within its central plateau. The 12,000-acre plateau provides a substantial portion of the island’s groundwater and stream flow.

Highest priority was given to programs systematically addressing ungulate and weed control, two critical threats. Reducing the impact of these threats across the watershed is of primary importance to the continued health of the island’s water supply, and the survival of Kauai’s biological treasures.

Hiker at waterfall, Hono o Na Pali, Kaua'i

Partnership projects currently underway include comprehensive mapping and removal of alien species from the Alaka`i Plateau, a mile-high plateau cradled between the mountains, and the upper portions of Lumahai and Wainiha Valleys. This wilderness is a haven for rare native birds and plants, many of them endangered.

Partners

Ben A. Dyre Family Limited Partnership
Department of Water of the County of Kaua‘i
Grove Farm Company, Incorporated
Kamehameha Schools
Kaua`i Ranch, LLC
Lihu`e Land Company
McBryde Sugar Company, Ltd.
Namahana Farms
National Tropical Botanical Garden
Princeville Development, LLC
State Department of Land and Natural Resources

Hiker at waterfall, Hono O Na Pali