Politics Muddying the Water in East Maui and Beyond

By Kirsten Kagimoto, Deputy Director and Wayne Tanaka, Chapter Director | Reading time: 4.5 minutes

Water is life. Yet instead of being treated as the life-sustaining, finite resource it is - and perhaps because of its vital nature, our wai is constantly exploited and politicized for profit and power.

Stream diversion in East Maui. Photo: Raina Myers.

What’s most disturbing is that despite recent tragedies tied to the mismanagement of our shared water resources, those in power continue—perhaps even more so—to prioritize money and politics over the health and safety of Hawaiʻi’s people, ʻāina, and wai. 

Much has happened, and well, not happened, in the last month in regards to our water future: 

Water Commission Loea Seat Languishes

Another month has passed and the Water Commission’s crucial loea seat remains vacant at the hands of Governor Green. But the pressure and unrest from the community is building. 

On September 30, a letter signed by 74 diverse organizations was hand delivered to Governor Green, urging him to immediately fill the Native Hawaiian water management expert, or loea, seat on the commission.

This comes after the governor announced in August that he is restarting the nomination process to fill the vacated seat, after failing to act on a list of four names that were submitted by a Water Commission nominating committee in February. Because of Governor Green’s inaction, there has been no loea on the commission since July, while critical discussions and decisions that require an understanding of Native Hawaiian water rights and management practices are imminent.  

Notably, the law does not authorize the governor to restart the process, and he has had months to make a selection from a duly-curated list. Due to the recent withdrawal of certain candidates, only two names from the original list remain, and a plain reading of the law says he must choose from them. Instead, his attorney general is misquoting the statutory language, to conveniently excuse this attempt to subvert the process.  

Allowing this precedent means future governors could follow suit and reject nominee lists until they get a nominee they prefer, perpetuating political influence over wai—an issue that has long plagued Hawaiʻi’s native ecosystems, culture, communities, and economy.

Hawaiʻi needs this seat filled now. Critical decisions are ahead, and we need a loea at the table to ensure our wai is managed as the precious gift it is, for all life in our islands - past, present, and future. Contact Governor Green now by using this form and calling him at 808-586-0034 to urge him to do what is right, fill the loea seat immediately.

Public Water in Public Hands: The Community Water Authority & East Maui’s 30-year lease

Alongside communities’ ongoing battles to restore streams across the paeʻāina, Maui voters established the East Maui Community Water Authority, now known as the ‘Aha Wai o Maui Hikina, in 2022, to provide a community-based, publicly-owned option for a long-term lease to divert Maui Hikina (East Maui) streams.  This option could ensure that stream diversions would no longer be operated by entrenched and investor-beholden water diverters Alexander & Baldwin, a politically powerful real estate investment trust, and Mahi Pono, a subsidiary of a Canadian pension fund with a spotty, if not ignominious, record of apparent land and water speculation.  

Despite Maui voters’ wishes, and written inquiries from the water authority, the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) chair, Dawn Chang, approved a staff recommendation that the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) issue A&B and Mahi Pono a 30-year lease to divert over 85 million gallons of water per day from Maui Hikina streams, subject to a contested case hearing. This move came just days before the water authority’s new executive director started; for many, this timing only further demonstrated the DLNR’s apparent unwillingness to entertain the vision of Maui’s voters to ensure community and public control of Maui’s waters. 

Fortunately, Chair Chang attended the East Maui Community Water Authority’s meeting just two days before the BLNR was set to meet on the long-term lease. Water authority and community members wasted no time voicing their concerns about the lease being issued without proper participation from the water authority, as well as the lack of necessary information including the appraisal of the value of the lease, water reservations for Hawaiian Homelands, and consultation from the Water Commission on water availability in Maui Hikina’s streams. Over 100 pages of comments were submitted, and the meeting room that day was filled, with another 60 people attending online. 

To her credit, Chair Chang, in apparent response to the outcry of opposition—including, notably, from Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen—announced the next day that the lease issuance recommendation would be withdrawn. 

Coming Up: Revocable Permits for 2025 and a Hawai‘i Supreme Court Hearing Date

No matter what happens next, the continued diversion of Maui Hikina’s streams under a revocable permit for 2025 will inevitably be proposed for the BLNR’s consideration in the next few months. Will the BLNR finally uphold its public trust obligations and address issues concerning water waste, the corporate burden of proof, and the balancing of actual needs for water? Stay tuned for an opportunity to lend your voice in the BLNR’s decisionmaking.  

Meanwhile, the state’s attempt to deny the Sierra Club’s due process rights to a contested case hearing over the Maui Hikina revocable permits issued for 2021 will be argued before the Hawai‘i Supreme Court on November 21 at 2 pm – please mark your calendars and consider attending this latest legal battle in the decades long saga over Maui’s public trust streams.