BLNR Considering Giving Mahi Pono & A&B More Water Than Needed, Despite Massive Waste

Share your voice for East Maui streams—again! This Friday, December 13, the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) will consider reissuing another revocable permit to allow Mahi Pono and Alexander & Baldwin to continue diverting water from Maui Hikina (East Maui) streams in 2025. 

As proposed, the permit would give A&B the authority to divert far more water than can be used. Millions of gallons of water taken from East Maui’s streams would then leak every day through unlined reservoirs that are more than a century old. Meanwhile, t native stream and marine life, Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices, and recreational and other public interests in East Maui would all suffer from the needless loss of stream flow.

Community voices have made a huge difference in recent discussions and decisions by the BLNR, and this Friday we may have the opportunity to convince the BLNR to stop the waste of millions of gallons of water every day under this revocable permit as currently proposed.  

Take a moment now to submit written comments, and consider providing verbal testimony at Friday’s meeting in-person or on Zoom, urging the BLNR to reduce the amount of water allowed to be taken from East Maui to what is actually needed, and to require that diverters use lined reservoirs as a condition of the revocable permit. You can find details and sample verbiage below. 

Board of Land and Natural Resources Meeting 
Friday, December 13, 9am - Agenda
DLNR Boardroom, Kalanimoku Bldg, 1151 Punchbowl Street, 1st Floor
*This is the last meeting of the year with a long agenda, so the meeting is expected to be long
Watch live on YouTube here
Submit written testimony by Thursday, December 12, 9am
Send to: blnr.testimony@hawaii.gov
*Include your request to provide virtual verbal testimony
Subject line: Testimony re: agenda item D-9
Sample testimony: 

Aloha Chair Chang and members of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, 

My name is [first name] and I am a resident of [place]. 

The proposed diversion amount under the 2025 revocable permit exceeds what both the diverters and the county can use on any given day. Allocating more water than is needed continues to perpetuate waste and take much needed water from native stream and coastal ecosystems and downstream users, including farmers and residents that rely on stream flows for traditional agriculture and subsistence and cultural practices.

Further, water usage data clearly show that millions of gallons of diverted stream water continue to leak from Mahi Pono’s unlined reservoirs  every day. Millions of gallons of water that should have remained in East Maui’s streams, watersheds, aquifers, and estuaries will be lost every day to leakage under the 2025 revocable permit. Allowing these leaks to persist while continuing to take water from East Maui streams is unacceptable, especially as we face ongoing drought conditions and the impacts of climate destabilization.

[Include personal stories or connection to Maui Hikina]

I urge the Board to take the following actions:

• Reduce the allocated diversion amount to align with actual water usage data, ensuring no more water is diverted than is truly needed.

• Require the diverters to use lined reservoirs to prevent further waste.

Thank you for your consideration.