Support the Maui County Community Water Authority - testimony needed!
Your voice is needed this Friday, July 1st, at 9 a.m. to support a historic charter amendment that creates a Maui County Community Water Authority to manage East Maui stream waters – and eventually other old plantation systems – for the benefit of our local farmers, kuleana users, residents, and watersheds.
The Maui County Water Authority would have the ability to create regional community boards – for each area affected – to guide the watershed planning of that area.
Help our community have a voice in our water future!
Please testify and let our County Council know this is an important and necessary step for Maui County!
9:00 a.m., Friday, July 1st
Testify live via Bluejeans video conferencing
Testify via phone: 1-408-317-9253 and input meeting code 295235670
Send written testimony to county.clerk@mauicounty.us by 9:00 a.m. Thursday morning
Or
Call your local councilmembers
Establishing a county-wide community water authority gives us the opportunity to bring in the right expertise and acquire the funding to manage our most precious resource wisely. As it stands, aging infrastructure and mismanagement contribute to unacceptable amounts of wasted water, with major impacts to local ecosystems, watersheds, and communities.
A Maui County Community Water Authority would allow us to invest in watershed restoration and repairs and maintenance to old wasteful infrastructure, develop transparent, efficient, and culturally and environmentally responsible systems of management, provide local jobs in resource management, and ensure water security for all of Maui’s current and future residents. Regional community boards incorporate the indispensable knowledge from local communities who have an intimate understanding of their watersheds and water systems.
The alternative is private, corporate control over public trust resources with no guarantee of good stewardship or equitable distribution of water or water rates.
We cannot afford to perpetuate the status quo. Maui County must do better to ensure the sustainability of our resources, our ‘āina, and our communities.
The choices we make now define the trajectory of our water future – please testify on Friday!