PacIOOS Water Quality Sensor Partnership Program 004: Kewalo Basin, Oahu, Hawaii

The nearshore sensors are part of the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS) and are designed to measure a variety of ocean parameters at fixed point locations. The PacIOOS Water Quality Sensor Partnership Program (WQSPP) supports scientists and natural resource managers to collect water quality data in order to inform research, conservation, planning, and resource management projects in the U.S. Insular Pacific region. Comprised of a network of "roving" water quality nearshore sensors, the WQSPP provides participating partners with sensors, data management, and technical capacity-building to allow for robust data collection. nss_wqspp_004 was located within the Kewalo Basin Harbor channel entrance approximately 85 meters from Point Panic just offshore of the Kewalo Marine Laboratory of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Kewalo Basin is located along Oahu's South Shore, situated between Kaka'ako Waterfront Park to its north and popular Ala Moana Beach Park to its south. The sensor package was mounted to the sea floor at approximately 1.5 meters depth. As part of the WQSPP, the Friends of Kewalos (FOK) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to receive a PacIOOS nearshore sensor for a limited time. The non-profit organization, whose mission is to protect and preserve Kewalo Basin Park, used the sensor to monitor water quality conditions before and during a construction project in Kewalo Basin Harbor. The Kewalo Basin Pier Repair-Improvement and Boat Slip Addition had the potential to stir up bottom sediments and alter the water quality conditions within the basin and the channel entrance with potential impacts on nearshore and offshore ocean users.