1. Introduction The He ' eia wetlands were originally used for cultivation of taro, a staple crop in Hawai ' i, and rice. However with rapid development of the Kane’ohe area in the 1950s, the taro and rice patches slowly fell into disuse and are now degraded and taken over by invasive species. The proposed project Mahuahua Ai ' o Hoi, will establish a land management program to restore these wetlands. 1.This wetland area is an important means of reducing sediment deposition into Kane’ohe bay. 2.Sediment deposition has adverse effects upon coral reefs- disrupting the sunlight’s path into the ocean and hampering the process of photosynthesis, coating the coral in layers of silt and other pollutants, and negatively altering the overall water quality. 3. Increased levels of turbidity directly correlate to this sediment deposition into the ocean Do wetlands reduce sediment deposition in the bay? My hypothesis was that turbidity out (post- filtration of wetland) would be significantly lower than turbidity in (pre-filtration of wetland). Wetland Restoration Reduces Sediment Deposition in Kane'ohe Bay, O'ahu Bri Tiffany Hokule ' a Program, Washington University in St. Louis Methods 1.To test the utility of wetlands we measured levels of turbidity via a 650A and a SONDES device placed in plot one of the taro field. 2.One SONDES was submerged under water and placed at the entrance of plot one of the taro field and the other device received the same treatment, but was placed at the exit of plot one. 3. The SONDES devices remained in these positions for weeks at a time. 4. To collect the data we connected the 650A to both of the SONDES and recorded the turbidity levels for the water from noon of each day at the entrance and the exit of the lo‘i fields. 5.We then entered this data into Excel and analyzed our results. Results Discussion Results showed the opposite of what we expected, turbidity levels out of the wetland were higher than turbidity levels in. This diversion from my hypothesis might be explained by the lack of pulse rain events we experienced in June and a high level of construction and manual labor in the fields that disrupted the sediment during the time of our data collection. Every day multiple workers were expanding the taro fields, including plot one. However, a previous study performed on the same plot by TNC researcher Dwayne Minton showed that the taro wetlands did effectively reduce sediment levels, most significantly during pulse rain events. He took data points over an extended time span and measured turbidity levels when no manual labor was being performed in the fields. Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the following: -Sean Marrs, The Marine Fellowship program director -My three bosses Ily Iglesias, Kanoe Morishige, and Leilani Warren -My research partner Heather Jin -Anu Hittle and Tiffany Knight -WU Environmental Studies Program -WU Office of Undergraduate Research -WU Career Center Conclusion 1.Looking at this larger data set and the general trends, we conclude that wetlands are most critical to lessening sediment deposition immediately following major rain falls and are a crucial “barrier” for protecting and preserving coral reefs. 2.This data has implications for other places in the U.S. where wetlands destruction has led to sedimentation in the near shore waters. Red star=Entrance of wetland. White star=Exit of wetland. Photo Cred: Minton Range of Turbidity Levels. Photo Cred: Minton Green: Turbidity In Blue: Turbidity Out Data Credit:D wayne Minton Bri and Heather holding a SONDES device and a 650A respectively. Photo Cred: Warren Turbidity Levels in Plot One, June 2013 Turbidity Levels Turbidity Levels in Plot One, May 2012-April 2013 Photo Credit: Kanoe Morishige The taro field where we took our samples. Photo Credit: Morishige