Kawai Nui Marsh, one of the state's environmental and cultural treasures, is in line for millions of dollars in new restoration and preservation projects, officials said.

City, state and federal officials have begun moving on several long-stalled projects designed to bring the 1,000-acre wetland back to life with new environmental, educational and recreational activity.

Located just 11 miles from Downtown Honolulu, a revitalized marsh could become a key habitat for endangered wildlife as well as a learning center and playground for hundreds of thousands of residents and visitors to O'ahu, supporters said.

"It's an ecological treasure that has been withering away for years," said state Sen. Jill Tokuda. "The community has been waiting a long time for this opportunity to start to rehabilitate it."

A law transferring control of Kawai Nui Marsh from the city to the state was signed last week by Gov. Linda Lingle and includes nearly $1 million for marsh maintenance over the next two years.

The law ends a nearly two-decades-old disagreement over who has responsibility and liability for various activities in the marsh, which over the past 150 years has been used for fishing, taro and rice farming, and cattle grazing.

With that dispute out of the way, at least half a dozen projects that have been languishing for years could be kick-started. They include a $5 million Army Corps of Engineer proposal to create 11 terraced open-water ponds in the marsh as a habitat for endangered waterfowl, and state Department of Land and Natural Resources plans to create natural and interpretive sites and trails linking dozens of cultural marsh features dating back thousands of years, including at least three Native Hawaiian heiau and an adz quarry.

SEAWATER RUSHED IN

The marsh, the largest remaining wetland in the state and once home to its largest ancient freshwater fishpond, is located in the center of a former shield volcano. When the makai wall of the volcano collapsed about 4,000 years ago, seawater rushed in and eventually created the sandbar where the present-day town of Kailua is located.

Scientists say the marsh has served historically as a giant ecological filtering system and floodwater plain for an average 10 million gallons of water that pour down through mountain streams every day before either evaporating or entering Kailua Bay.

The marsh provides the primary habitat for four of Hawai'i's endemic and endangered water fowl and includes dozens of archaeological features dating from prehistoric times when the area housed one of the largest Native Hawaiian communities. In 2005, the entire area was placed on an international list of important wetlands worldwide.

In Hawai'i, though, recognition of the area's importance has been slow in coming.

Starting about 500 years ago, Hawaiians cultivated taro in walled, terraced ponds in the area. Rice was cultivated from the 1850s to the 1920s, when landowners began diverting stream water to Waimanalo, drying up the marsh, opening it to cattle grazing and the growth of non-native grasses.

In the early 1900s, a rifle club was established, probably playing a role in the decline of Hawaiian water bird species. As recently as the 1960s, there was still talk of filling in the marsh to expand suburban housing on Windward O'ahu, and until 1988 four sewage-treatment plants discharged partially treated sewage directly into the marsh, while the north end of the wetland was used as a storage area for junk cars.

And when the marsh overflowed on New Year's Eve 1986, sending water into the Coconut Grove residential area, officials increased the size of a levee, cutting the marsh off from the nearby Oneawa Canal.

VOLUNTEERS TAKE OVER

While state and city plans to protect the area came and went, several community groups not-so-quietly began taking action on their own to improve its conditions and raise public awareness of its importance.

Hundreds of volunteers, led by Ahahui Malama I Ka Lokahi, the Kailua Hawaiian Civic Club, and the Windward Ahupua'a Alliance and the Kawai Nui Heritage Foundation have logged thousands of hours since 1999 clearing and restoring many of the marsh's cultural features.

They have spearheaded the restoration of the Ulupo Heiau on the southern end of the marsh and development of a 28-acre cultural site nearby. Other groups have consistently organized cleanup campaigns throughout the marsh area and worked to open more features and sites to the public.

And in 2005, the groups succeeded in having Kawai Nui included as one of 1,674 sites on the Ramsar Convention's list of internationally important wetlands. The intergovernmental treaty, established in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, aims to preserve wetlands through local, regional and international cooperation.

"The fact that all of this came from concerned citizens and the best scientific support is really important," said Muriel Seto, who worked for decades to raise awareness of the marsh and helped write the marsh's nomination for the Ramsar Convention's list.

"The community groups were the ones who made it impossible for the city and state to ignore the needs of the marsh any longer. The whole idea germinated in Kailua, and we succeeded because the public input never went away," Seto said.

PROJECTS DELAYED

Now, supporters say, the government agencies can begin implementing some of the many projects that have been on the back burner for decades.

A 1981 state master plan for Kawai Nui, for instance, calls for protection of the endangered species and cultural sites in the marsh as well as new interpretive trails and a visitors center. The city has plans on a back burner to develop passive parks on either end of the marsh and to clear mangrove trees from the adjacent Oneawa canal, opening up new vistas for Coconut Grove residents and visitors.

And the Army Corps of Engineers project will clear 28 acres of marsh currently clogged with invasive grasses, offering a new water habitat to the Hawaiian duck, coot, moorhen and stilt, all of which have seen their populations decline as less and less open water remained available in the marsh.

The corps plan also calls for creating 70 acres of mud flats and shallow ponds, clearing 17 acres of vegetation, trapping predators and installing protective fence.

"The water is key to everything in the marsh," Seto said. "With the opening of the waters, you end up with a beautiful scenic resource that public and researchers will come to appreciate even more," Seto said.

Ultimately, supporters envision the restoration and preservation of the area leading to national wildlife refuge status.

"We're doing this for the next 50, 100 or 1,000 years," said Chuck "Doc" Burrows, a driving force behind the restoration efforts. "If these places are lost, then Hawai'i becomes just like any other place. We're working to maintain the Hawaiian identity."

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.