Ala Moana Beach Park to Get 70,000 Cubic Yards of Sand

Ala Moana Beach Park Nears Restoration as State Approves $7.4 Million Sand Project

About 70,000 cubic yards of sand is headed to Ala Moana Beach Park, backed by a unanimous vote from the Hawai‘i Board of Land and Natural Resources last Friday. The $7.4 million initiative aims to reverse decades of erosion along the shoreline.

Sprawled across roughly 43 acres at a one-foot depth, the new sediment will be dredged from offshore deposits and deposited along the Ala Moana shoreline. State officials expect the infusion to rebuild a recreational draw that has diminished under years of coastal wear and tear.

Green Fee Funds Replace Diverted Pandemic Budget

The project draws its budget from the state’s newly implemented Green Fee, which stems from an increase in the Transient Accommodations Tax that went into effect at the start of the year. Laura Thielen, Director of the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation, told the BLNR that planning and permitting for the replenishment were completed back in 2021.

State approves funding for city’s Ala Moana Beach Park sand replenishment project

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit that same year, funds originally earmarked for the beach work were diverted for various pandemic response projects. Left without a dedicated cash stream, the department shelved the physical overhaul until the Green Fee revenue unlocked new financing.

Thielen also clarified a jurisdictional hurdle during Friday’s hearing, noting that while Ala Moana Regional Park is a county park, the City and County of Honolulu cannot spend bond money to restore the beach itself. As she put it to the board, “the city does not have the title to the underlying property, just like you can’t get a mortgage on somebody else’s house.”

City Must Complete Project by February 2030

Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding approved by the BLNR between the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the City and County of Honolulu, the City has until February 2030 to complete the work, a deadline tied to the original 2021 Conservation District Use Permit (view the official project document).

Should expenses exceed the $7.4 million allocated from the Green Fee, the City and County is under no obligation to spend additional county funds, and can scale back the project or terminate it entirely. Once the dredging and deposition wrap up, the City will retain ongoing responsibility for maintaining the restored shoreline.