Waihe'e Fish Passage
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Waihe‘e Stream, located in windward O‘ahu is a perennial stream that originates in the Ko‘olau Mountains and runs for approximately 2.9 miles before entering Kane'ohe Bay. At river mile 1.8, a USGS stream gauging station built in 1935 blocked the passage of native aquatic species to upstream areas.
The structure had become undercut and posed a barrier for upstream migration of endemic and native aquatic species including: O'opu alamo'o (Lentipes concolor), O'opu naniha (Stenogobius hawaiiensis), O'opu nopili (Sicyopterus stimpsoni), and O'opu akupa (Eleotris sandwicensis) and one indigenous species, o'opu nakea (Awaous guamensis). The primary objective of this project was to modify the antiquated stream gauging station to allow upstream migration of native aquatic species in a way that excluded non-native aquatic species and repaired other failing aspects of the structure. In August 2012, project work began to repair the front of the structure. A rock face was built up one side of the overhang to allow a slow, steady flow of water creating favorable conditions for O’opu migration. Additional work to repair other aspects of the structure took place in Summer 2013. Funders and partners for this project include U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hawaii Fish Habitat Partnership, KEY Project, Honolulu Board of Water Supply, USGS, State of Hawaii: Department of Aquatic Resources. Collectively, these groups have formed the Waihe'e Ahupua'a Initiative. |
View the project fact sheet and
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