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Climate Ready O‘ahu Public Review

Public comment period is now closed. Mahalo for your thoughtful comments.

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Summary

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Welcome

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Introduction

Climate adaptation is taking action to prepare for and adjust to both the current and projected impacts of climate change. O‘ahu’s top climate hazards are sea level rise, increasing temperatures, decreasing precipitation, flash flooding, and hurricanes. These hazards are causing warmer summers and winters, impacting human health, and increasing the potential for loss of property and sandy beaches.

Click the ‘Jump to Page’ button below to learn more about climate hazards and impacts.

 

Climate Equity & Community

Climate equity begins with recognizing and addressing unequal burdens within communities that are made worse by climate change. Equity has been a priority throughout the development of Climate Ready Oʻahu, and has included robust stakeholder engagement across the whole island. 

Click the ‘Jump to Page’ button below to learn more about climate equity and community engagement.

Empowered People

Part 1 envisions an island where all people are empowered with the knowledge, tools, and resources to prepare for climate impacts.  This section shares 4 strategies and 15 actions related to the people that work, play, and live here on Oʻahu.

Click the ‘Jump to Page’ button below to read the strategies and actions for empowered and prepared people.

Stewarded ʻĀina

Part 2 envisions an island where connections between people and native ecosystems are cultivated so the ʻāina is safeguarded for generations to come.  This section shares 4 strategies and 20 actions to ensure ʻāina remains healthy and accessible to all. 

Click the ‘Jump to Page’ button below to read the strategies and actions for safeguarded and stewarded ʻāina.

Safe Infrastructure

Part 3 envisions an island where infrastructure keeps residents safe from climate hazards at home, at work, and everywhere in between. This section shares 4 strategies and 22 actions to ensure that our infrastructure is able to handle various climate hazards.

Click the ‘Jump to Page’ button below to read the strategies and actions for safe and reliable infrastructure.

Adapting Together

We are committed to future collaboration between the City and County of Honolulu, community-based organizations, businesses, residents, and visitors to implement this plan successfully. As we set forth on this transformative path, we call upon every individual and entity on Oʻahu to take action for a climate ready future.

Click the ‘Jump to Page’ button below to learn more about our plan to implement Climate Ready  O‘ahu.

Guided Tour

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This quick guided tour will take you through the most important parts of this document, providing a brief overview of what you'll be seeing along with some helpful tips.
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in reply to Jason Shon's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your suggestion. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) as recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has three main objectives: sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes; adapting and building resilience to climate change; and reducing and/or removing greenhouse gas emissions, where possible. We have changed the action's description to make the connection to agroecology clearer and clarify that the proposed Climate Smart Agriculture Resource Guide (referenced in Action 8.2) will identify specific tenets of CSA and agroecology that should be promoted on Oʻahu. The term "climate-smart" is also used by the USDA, which could provide important future resources to implement this work.
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in reply to Marie Samudio's comment
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Mahalo for your feedback. This report emphasizes collaboration because it reflects what the community told us was important. Following adoption of this report, one of the first things we will do is develop meaningful metrics that will provide transparency on the implementation of the actions.
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in reply to Anonymous's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your feedback. Including trees in complete streets project is a great idea! In fact, "trees and landscaping" are one of the 10 core principles of the City's complete streets program, as laid out in the Complete Streets Ordinance. You're correct that the DPR Director is not currently identified in that ordinance, and that is something that we will keep in mind as we move toward implementation.
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in reply to Elizabeth Weitz's comment
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Mahalo for your feedback. Trees provide so many co-benefits, including helping to reduce energy use and cost. We have added your suggestion to the list of expected benefits.
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in reply to Elizabeth Weitz's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your feedback. The adverse impacts that seawalls have on beaches is serious and well-documented. The City recently adopted Ordinance 23-4, which strengthened the shoreline rules against seawalls and other shoreline armoring.
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in reply to Elizabeth Weitz's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your suggestion. There are a series of grants and loans from both the City and state developed and available to support locally grown food. Recently, the Office of Economic Revitalization (OER) awarded 66 grants to small farmers, ranchers and growers who qualified for the City's $3 million agriculture grant. The Oʻahu Agriculture and Conservation Association is a great resource for viewing the various grants and loans applicable to our farmers and ranchers. link
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in reply to Puluke's comment
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Mahalo for your comment. Drought frequency, duration, and magnitude has increased on Oʻahu from 1920-2019 (Climate Change Brief, footnote 77) and historical data shows a decrease in rainfall for both the wet and dry seasons (Climate Change Brief, footnote 75). The City Climate Change Commission's Climate Change Brief (2023) cites many peer reviewed papers on precipitation observations and projections. However, you are correct that projections are not consistent. We have both drought and flash flooding listed as impacts in this report.
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in reply to Nancy McPherson's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your comment. We have made this change.
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in reply to Nancy McPherson's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your comment. We have made this change.
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in reply to Puluke's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your comment. You are correct that there has not been an observed increase in hurricanes in Hawaiʻi. "Since 1980 in the Central North Pacific basin, trends in the number of named storms have remained constant, with no significant trend in observed tropical cyclone frequency" (Climate Change Brief, footnote 154 & 155). On the other hand, hurricanes are more frequent during El Niño (Climate Change Brief, footnote 197), and El Niño conditions are projected to double in the 21st Century (Climate Change Brief, footnote 206). It is also projected that storms will follow tracks that bring them into the vicinity of Hawai‘i more often (Climate Change Brief, footnote 194,195,196). Lastly, there are other peer-reviewed sources that suggest that hurricane frequency will remain about the same in Hawaiʻi, but intensity may increase. link
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in reply to Nancy McPherson's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your comment. We have made this change.
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in reply to Nancy McPherson's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your comment. We have made this change.
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in reply to Nancy McPherson's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your comment. Generally, there is no hyphen in American English.
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in reply to Nancy McPherson's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your suggestion. We have made this change.
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in reply to Nancy McPherson's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your suggestion. We have made this change.
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in reply to Nancy McPherson's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your suggestion. We have made this change.
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in reply to Adam Orand's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your comment. Our vision statement is meant to be lofty and describe the goal that we are striving for. However, we understand that it is certainly unachievable to keep 100% of residents safe at all times. In our strategies and actions (which are more tangible action items), we often use the language of "reducing risk".
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in reply to Anne Zellinger's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your comment. Action 6.4 discusses reestablishing natural stream systems and DPP is listed as a partner.
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in reply to Adam Orand's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your comment. Our vision statement is meant to be lofty and describe the goal that we are striving for. However, we understand that it is certainly unachievable to keep 100% of residents safe at all times. In our strategies and actions (which are more tangible action items), we often use the language of "reducing risk".
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in reply to Anne Zellinger's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your support.
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in reply to Adam Orand's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your suggestion. We considered many ways to organize and number the strategies and actions, and chose to use continuous numbering for the strategies to be consistent with the Climate Action Plan.
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in reply to Anne Zellinger's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your question. This is a complex challenge that is addressed by multiple actions. For more information on siting new infrastructure, please see Actions 10.6 and 11.2. For more information on planning for existing infrastructure, please see Actions 10.4 and 11.3. For more information on managed retreat please see Action 11.4.
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in reply to JV's comment
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Mahalo for your suggestion. We considered many ways to organize these data, but decided on this arrangement to strengthen the connection between the three parts of the vision and the five climate hazards.
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in reply to JV's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your suggestion. We added citations for these numbers, which came from the Climate Change Commission's Sea Level Rise Guidance (2022).
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in reply to Anne Zellinger's comment
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Mahalo for your comment. Salt water intrusion into the aquifer is certainly an impact of sea level rise. Please see Strategy 8 for more information on the impact of saltwater intrusion.
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in reply to JV's comment
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Mahalo!
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in reply to Puluke's comment
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Mahalo for your feedback. According to the Board of Water Supply (BWS), due to a combination of urban growth and a decline in sugar production, the amount of water released by the closure of sugar plantations in the mid-1990s was less than that used by BWS. Some of that groundwater and surface water diversions remain available for agricultural irrigation, primarily in Waialua. In other former sugarcane areas such as ʻEwa, Waipahu, Waikele, and lower Kunia, new urban development has supplanted the demand for water.
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in reply to JV's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your suggestion. We agree and incorporated your suggestion into our impacts table.
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in reply to Makena Coffman's comment
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Mahalo for your feedback. This is an important point not just for this action but all of our equity work. We will add this to the Strategy 4 introduction section, and make sure to keep it in mind during implementation moving forward.
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in reply to JV's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your suggestion. This is discussed under ʻĀina Impacts and the third bullet for Increasing Temperatures and Heat Waves.
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in reply to Puluke's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your comment. Please refer to the City Climate Change Commission's Climate Change Brief (2023) and Sea Level Rise Guidance (2022) for peer-reviewed sources of data on sea level rise. In particular, you may be interested in the following references: Sea level is rising at an accelerating rate over recent decades based on satellite altimetry data (Climate Change Brief, footnote 125). There is likely to be as much SLR in the next 30 years as in the last 100 years (Climate Change Brief, footnote 129). Also, melting of Greenland and Antarctica's ice sheets is accelerating. Ice loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet increased seven-fold from 34 billion tons per year between 1992 and 2001 to 247 billion tons per year between 2012 and 2016. Antarctic ice loss nearly quadrupled from 51 billion tons per year between 1992 and 2001 to 199 billion tons per year from 2012 to 2016. (Climate Change Brief, footnote 128).
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in reply to Puluke's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your comment. Please refer to the City Climate Change Commission's Climate Change Brief (2023) and Sea Level Rise Guidance (2022) for peer-reviewed sources of data on sea level rise. In particular, you may be interested in the following references: Sea level is rising at an accelerating rate over recent decades based on satellite altimetry data (Climate Change Brief, footnote 125). There is likely to be as much SLR in the next 30 years as in the last 100 years (Climate Change Brief, footnote 129). Also, melting of Greenland and Antarctica's ice sheets is accelerating. Ice loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet increased seven-fold from 34 billion tons per year between 1992 and 2001 to 247 billion tons per year between 2012 and 2016. Antarctic ice loss nearly quadrupled from 51 billion tons per year between 1992 and 2001 to 199 billion tons per year from 2012 to 2016. (Climate Change Brief, footnote 128).
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in reply to JV's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your suggestion. We restructured the sentence to reference no landfall on O‘ahu since records have been available.
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in reply to HAROLD SENTER's comment
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Mahalo for your suggestion. By offering an adaptation strategy, we aim to reduce the future costs from these climate hazards and provide equitable solutions. Additionally, the first 3 goals of Ola Oʻahu Resilience Strategy focus on ensuring an affordable future for our island.
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in reply to JV's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your suggestion. The statement is based on a general trend which is also reported in the City Climate Change Commission's Climate Change Brief (2023). The Historic Data and Future Risk Data on the right side of the page provide statistics from the Climate Change Brief (2023) to support the trend. We have added citations to identify this source as well.
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in reply to Puluke's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your comment. Climate Ready Oʻahu is focused on hazards we will experience here on Oʻahu. Here are some Hawaiʻi specific projections: Model projections for late 21st century for Hawaiʻi indicate that surface air temperature over land will increase 2° to 4°C (1.8° to 7.2°F), with the greatest warming at the highest elevations and on leeward sides of the major islands. (Climate Change Brief, footnotes 70-72). Under continued (“business as usual”) greenhouse gas emissions, elevations above 3,000 m (9,800 ft.) in Hawaiʻi are projected to reach up to 4° to 5°C (7.2° to 9°F) warmer temperatures by the late 21st Century (Climate Change Brief, footnote 73).
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in reply to JV's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your suggestion. We rephrased the sentence to begin with "Temperatures will vary..." We believe this will help avoid the association of relative humidity included with air temperatures variation.
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in reply to HAROLD SENTER's comment
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Mahalo for your feedback. As a climate adaptation strategy focused on preparing us for the climate impacts of today and generations to come, we do value and reference the economic implications and impacts of climate hazards. However, the full dissection and economic direction of our economy are not fully accessed in this document, as this is outside of our scope. The State has written a 2023 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy for Honolulu county, and the City's Office of Economic Revitalization has numerous programs aimed at creating an economy with more equitable, diverse, and good jobs. The Economic Revitalization Commission Report 2023 provides a highlight of the different initiatives and goals for revitalizing our economy.
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in reply to Anne Zellinger's comment
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Mahalo for your question. Carbon emissions are addressed in the City's Climate Action Plan. The State and City's 2045 target for zero emissions includes all emissions in the state, including from military activities. The City's greenhouse gas inventory also includes the military's emissions in its total. You can find most up to date inventory in the City's Annual Sustainability Report.
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in reply to Puluke's comment
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Mahalo for your comment. Please refer to the City Climate Change Commission's Climate Change Brief (2023) for peer-reviewed sources of data on historical temperature data. Average air temperature has risen by about 1.1°C (2°F) statewide and by 1.4°C (2.6°F) in Honolulu since 1950, with a sharp increase in warming over the last decade (Climate Change Brief, footnote 38).
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in reply to Anne Zellinger's comment
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Mahalo for your question. The expected benefit, preserve and protect sensitive rural ecosystems, is associated with managed retreat. Military actions are not assessed with this Action, as they are not associated with managed retreat.
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in reply to HAROLD SENTER's comment
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Mahalo for your feedback. Although economic growth paradigms are not within the scope of this document, economic impacts of climate hazards are. Economic impacts of climate hazards can be found throughout these impact tables, and are the impetus for numerous actions including Action 3.5, Action 8.6, and Action 11.3.
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in reply to Puluke's comment
Answer
Mahalo for your comment. Please refer to the City Climate Change Commission's Climate Change Brief (2023) and Sea Level Rise Guidance (2022) for peer-reviewed sources of data on sea level rise. In particular, you may be interested in the following references: Sea level is rising at an accelerating rate over recent decades based on satellite altimetry data (Climate Change Brief, footnote 125). There is likely to be as much SLR in the next 30 years as in the last 100 years (Climate Change Brief, footnote 129). Also, melting of Greenland and Antarctica's ice sheets is accelerating. Ice loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet increased seven-fold from 34 billion tons per year between 1992 and 2001 to 247 billion tons per year between 2012 and 2016. Antarctic ice loss nearly quadrupled from 51 billion tons per year between 1992 and 2001 to 199 billion tons per year from 2012 to 2016. (Climate Change Brief, footnote 128).
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in reply to Anne Zellinger's comment
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Mahalo for your question. Action 11.3 primarily focuses on impacts on infrastructure caused by flooding and erosion related to sea level rise, not by vehicle weight. This issue is not related to climate adaptation.
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in reply to Garrett Hambaro's comment
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Mahalo for your comment. Equity is extremely important to consider in climate adaptation and resilience. The introduction focuses more on climate hazards, while "Climate Equity in Adaptation" is where we discuss equity in detail. Climate Equity is also defined in the glossary.
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in reply to Puluke's comment
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Mahalo for your feedback. We have changed the wording of this section.
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in reply to Anne Zellinger's comment
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Mahalo for your support!
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in reply to Garrett Hambaro's comment
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Mahalo for your suggestion. While the impacts were not listed in order of importance, we moved this bullet to the top of the list.
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in reply to Anne Zellinger's comment
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Mahalo for your feedback. We support green solutions and less energy-intensive solutions wherever possible. Please see Action 12.2 for more information.
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in reply to HAROLD SENTER's comment
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Mahalo for your feedback. These vents are designed well to support passive cooling, and they should be encouraged for both reducing interior temperatures and improving energy efficiency. When updating the building code, decision makers often balance improved performance against increased cost. Strategies 9 and 10 are aimed to increase the integration and funding sources for infrastructure best designed to climate resilience.
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