RAPID: Understanding the Immediate and Long-Term Impacts of Maui Wildfires on Chemical and Microbiological Quality of Nearshore Beach and Coastal Waters

2023年8月8日，一场迅速而毁灭性的野火烧毁了夏威夷州历史名镇拉海纳(毛伊岛)。早期迹象表明，毛伊岛野火导致危险化学品和污染物释放到环境中，包括1)挥发性有机化合物(VOC)、多环芳烃(PAHs)和焚烧植被、车辆和建筑物产生的重金属，以及2)停电和当地污水处理厂运行中断后释放的未经处理废水中的营养物质(氮和磷)和微生物病原体。这一快速项目将评估这些危险化学品和污染物在毛伊岛野火后对当地沿海/海滩含水层和生态系统中化学和微生物水质的影响。为了推进这一目标，项目组将从受野火影响和未受影响的地区收集和分析沉积物、地表水和地下水样本。此外，项目组建议将现场测量与地下水建模相结合，以确定受野火影响的沿海地区污染物跨越海陆边界的转移程度和机制。该项目的成功完成将使社会受益，因为它将产生有关毛伊岛野火对沿海/海滩含水层和海洋生态系统的化学和微生物水质的直接和长期影响的数据和基本知识。为指导毛伊岛的水资源管理者、当地社区和其他利益攸关方设计和实施解决方案，以减轻当地饮用水水源的污染，提高沿海/海滩含水层和生态系统对野火后污染的适应能力，迫切需要这种新的数据和知识。将通过学生教育和培训，包括指导夏威夷大学马诺阿分校的两名研究生，为社会带来更多好处。毛伊岛野火发生后，大量危险化学品，如挥发性有机化合物(VOCs)、多环芳烃(PAHs)和重金属，以及氮和磷等营养物质，被释放到环境中，包括沿海和海滩含水层的包气带。这些污染物通过地表径流(快速和急性)和海底地下水排放(缓慢和长期)对毛伊岛沿海水资源构成直接和长期威胁。这一快速项目的首要目标是调查污染物运输的这一双重机制及其对毛伊岛当地饮用水水源和沿海/海滩含水层和生态系统的不利影响。这项研究的具体目标是：1)评估野火对当地海滩和沿海含水层化学和微生物水质的直接影响；2)探索对毛伊岛海滩地下水化学和微生物质量的长期影响；3)描述由潮汐和海浪引起的海水和地下水之间的相互作用，在多个时间尺度上污染物在海洋和海滩界面上的交换和传输的程度和机制。该项目的成功完成有可能促进对沿海地区野火后释放的污染物的去向和迁移及其对当地水资源和海洋生态系统的不利影响的基本了解。为了实现这个RAPID项目的教育和培训目标，首席调查人员建议利用夏威夷大学马诺阿本科生研究机会计划来吸引和招募来自毛伊岛的本科生参与项目研究活动。这个RAPID项目由ENG/CBET环境工程和环境可持续发展计划共同支持。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

On August 8, 2023, a rapid and devastating wildfire burned through the historical town of Lahaina (Maui) in the State of Hawaii. Early indications suggest that the Maui wildfire caused the release of hazardous chemicals and pollutants into the environment including 1) volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and heavy metals from the burning of vegetation, vehicles, and structures and 2) nutrients (nitrogen and phosphate) and microbial pathogens from untreated wastewater released following power outages and disruptions of the operations of local wastewater treatment plants. This RAPID project will evaluate the impact of these hazardous chemicals and pollutants on chemical and microbiological water quality in the local coastal/beach aquifers and ecosystems following the Maui wildfire. To advance this goal, the project team will collect and analyze sediments, surface water, and groundwater samples from areas affected and unaffected by the wildfire. In addition, the project team proposes to combine the on-site measurements with groundwater modeling to characterize and identify the extent and mechanisms of contaminant transport across the land-sea boundary in coastal areas that are affected by the wildfire. The successful completion of this project will benefit society through the generation of data and fundamental knowledge about the immediate and long-term impacts of the Maui wildfire on chemical and microbiological water quality in coastal/beach aquifers and marine ecosystems. Such new data and knowledge would be critically needed to guide water resource managers, local communities, and other stakeholders in Maui as they design and implement solutions to mitigate the contamination of local drinking water sources and improve the resilience of coastal/beach aquifers and ecosystems to contamination following wildfires. Additional benefits to society will be achieved through student education and training, including the mentoring of two graduate students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Following the Maui wildfire, a broad range of hazardous chemicals such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and heavy metals, as well as nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, were released into the environment including the vadose zones of costal and beach aquifers. These contaminants pose both immediate and long-term threats to coastal water resources in Maui through surface runoff (rapid and acute) and submarine groundwater discharge (slow and chronic). The overarching goal of this RAPID project is to investigate this dual mechanism of contaminant transport and its adverse impacts on local drinking water sources and coastal/beach aquifers and ecosystems in Maui. The specific objectives of this research are to 1) evaluate the immediate impact of the wildfire on chemical and microbiological water quality in local beach and coastal aquifers, 2) probe the long-term impacts on chemical and microbiological quality of groundwater within beaches in Maui and 3) characterize the extent and mechanisms of contaminant exchange and transport across the interface of the sea and beach over multiple time scales, driven by tide- and wave-induced interactions between seawater and groundwater. The successful completion of this project has the potential to advance the fundamental understanding of the fate and transport of contaminants released following wildfires in coastal regions and their adverse impact on local water resources and marine ecosystems. To implement the educational and training goals of this RAPID project, the Principal Investigators propose to leverage the University of Hawaii at Manoa Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program to engage and recruit undergraduate students from Maui to work on the project research activities.This RAPID project is jointly supported by the ENG/CBET Environmental Engineering and Environmental Sustainability programs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.