Litigation Station: East Maui
by Wayne Tanaka and Kirsten Kagimoto | Reading time: 2 minutes
Ola i ka wai! Last month, in a big win for East Maui streams, the Environmental Court reduced the amount of water that Alexander & Baldwin and East Maui Irrigation are authorized to take from East Maui streams by more than 20%.
This big win stems from the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi’s successful appeal of the Board of Land and Natural Resource’s (BLNR) denial of our contested case request regarding the board’s 2023 revocable permits issued to Alexander & Baldwin (A&B) and East Maui Irrigation. In addition to reducing the amount of water the diverters could take from 40.49 million gallons per day (mgd) to 31.5 mgd, the court found that the BLNR’s issuance of temporary permits to divert streams from East Maui was “in violation of constitutional or statutory provisions” and “made upon unlawful procedure.” In his decision, Judge Jeffery Crabtree also invited the parties to return to court if additional evidence suggested a need for further modifications.
The court held that “it offends the constitution when BLNR dismisses Sierra Club’s advocacy out of hand by denying them a meaningful opportunity to be heard.”
The court’s decision notes that the 40.49 mgd far exceeded the amount reportedly needed for diversified agriculture in Central Maui, for the Kula Ag Park, for Upcountry users, and for historic/industrial uses, and that the 31.5 mgd granted under the court’s order would still provide more than enough water to meet those needs all while better ensuring that unneeded water would remain in East Maui to support the region’s watersheds, estuaries, and community members reliant upon stream flow for recreation, cultural practices, and subsistence.
In addition to the 31.5 mgd, approximately three to five million gallons of groundwater per day could also be sustainably pumped and used by A&B, according to A&B’s own reports.
This is not the first time that the Environmental Court has reprimanded the BLNR for dismissing the Sierra Club’s request for a contested case and permitting A&B and East Maui Irrigation to take more water than needed or requested. Similarly, in 2021, the court reduced the take of water from 45 mgd to 25 mgd (then later capping it at 20 mgd) while ruling that the BLNR must grant the Sierra Club a contested case hearing to examine numerous legal and factual issues and concerns associated with the permits. The BLNR then went on to increase the amount of water that A&B and EMI could take to more than 40 mgd.
We invite you to celebrate this win by making a donation to the Maui Group, signing up for East Maui email updates, and checking out the news coverage on Hawaiʻi News Now, The Maui News, and Maui Now.