PUAKŌ for Reefs

04/15/2025

🌊🐠 Our oceans need help! 🌍✨ Here’s one simple step you can take right now to protect coral reefs: Cut down on plastic! 🚯

Single-use plastics like bags, bottles, and straws often end up in our oceans, harming marine life and fragile reef ecosystems. By choosing reusable alternatives, you're making a big difference for our planet! 🌱💙

Let’s work together to keep our reefs vibrant and thriving! 🌿🐡

04/08/2025

🪸 What Happened to Puakō Reef? The Photos Say It All.

For sixteen years, scientists from the Seattle Aquarium have returned to the same three west Hawaii reefs to collect images and data—tracking the health of coral and fish populations year after year.

The result? Swipe to see the heartbreaking change. 😢

💔 In 2012, coral coverage at Puakō was 70%. Today, it’s merely 7%.
Why? While neighboring reefs like Mahukona and Old Kona are recovering from climate events, Puakō is the only one suffering from untreated wastewater.

🛑 Scientists warn: if coral coverage drops below 5%, recovery may no longer be possible.

🎯 In 2025, we’re raising $150,000 to act now—funding community outreach, expert partnerships, and legal and engineering groundwork to install a sewer system that will finally stop the pollution.

Puakō Reef can’t wait. Will you help us protect it?

Donate Here: https://puako4reefs.org/before-after/

04/17/2024

02/19/2024

Aloha Puako Community!

Come join us...

The Seattle Aquarium returns for their annual survey results of our reefs.

Dr. Shawn Larson and her team will report on our reef's health and fish life.

This Monday, February 19 at Hokuloa Church. at 5pm.

02/19/2024

Read this article from September 2023 Hawaii Business Magazine by Stewart Coleman. It details the problems with Cesspools and the value of our reef!

An expert explains how to reverse the damage from the state’s 83,000 cesspools, including using treated wastewater for irrigation and landscaping.

02/14/2024

Please join Kohala meeting to help us save our beautiful Puako reef!

01/18/2024

Welcome to the Puako for Reefs page.

We welcome questions and comments on all efforts to save the Puako Reef.

Thank you for being here.

Puakō is an historic ocean-front community on the South Kohala coast of Hawaii Island between major resorts. Off its shore is the spectacular Puakō reef, one of Hawaii’s great natural treasures and a powerful economic driver for the Kohala Coast. Local communities and tourists swim, fish, surf, sail, paddle and dive in Puakō’s waters every day.

Twenty years of scientific research has proven that the reef is in significant danger due to three main sources: wastewater from the local community, run off from further up the mountain, and overfishing. The state of Hawaii understands this and has identified saving Puakō reef as a high state priority.

The community, determined and committed to do what it can to save the reef, has spent millions of dollars over the past 10 years studying potential solutions to the wastewater problem. Experts agree that the best way to sufficiently remove the harmful nutrients that come from the community’s and state parks’ wastewater is a fully sewered system.

At this point there are a few viable solutions and the community supports all options, but it will need extensive cooperation and support from county and state agencies.

The Puakō community is now pursuing additional volunteers to shoulder the challenge of developing a community-wide sanitary sewer collection and treatment system with perhaps the inclusion of like-minded neighboring communities in the spirit of Aloha. It has started this non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the reef for future generations who live and work in the entire Kohala region of the Big Island. Puakō for Reefs welcomes your participation and support.