Plantation disaster capitalism water grab in Maui Komohana

by Kirsten Kagimoto, Chapter Communications Manager and Wayne Tanaka, Chapter Director | Reading time: 5 minutes

In Maui Komohana (West Maui), amidst the chaos and suffering, a representative for West Maui Land Company misleadingly suggested that filling reservoirs at Launiupoko with diverted stream water would have helped fight the wildfires that ravaged Lāhainā, and that Water Commission deputy Kaleo Manuel had prevented this from happening.

However, in reality, it was the decades-long poor water and land management by plantations and now luxury “gentlemen farm” developers like West Maui Land Company that left the land and streams dry and infested with invasive weeds, to the detriment of the ʻāina and people of West Maui. These conditions ultimately left Lāhainā susceptible to unprecedented fires like we just witnessed in August.

Outrageously, in response to the letters from West Maui Land Company, Governor Green re-assigned Kaleo Manuel, the deputy director for the Commission on Water Resource Management, and issued an emergency proclamation that suspends the Water Code for Maui Komohana. Mind you, Governor Green issued this emergency proclamation without consulting the Commission on Water Resource Management, the sole entity authorized to make decisions about Hawaiʻi’s freshwater resources.

The West Maui community and water rights allies across the paeʻāina are calling on Governor Josh Green, Hawai‘i state legislators, and the Department of Land and Natural Resources to:

• Reinstate the State Water Code
  The third emergency proclamation signed by Governor Green suspends the Water Code for Maui Komohana.

  The Water Code, established in 1987, protects our wai by safeguarding Hawaiʻi’s water for the benefit of the community and future generations, as established and perpetuated by Native Hawaiian ῾āina stewardship methods, and created the non-political Water Commission, to make sure that all water users follow the code.

  Although it is not quite clear what the specifics of the Water Code suspension are, it could present opportunities for corporations and luxury developers to attempt to hoard more water.

• Return Kaleo Manuel as the Deputy Director of the Commission on Water Resources Management
  Kaleo Manuel was the first Native Hawaiian deputy appointed by the Water Commission, holding his post for almost five years. The commission’s progress under the direction of Kaleo was unprecedented. His work to uphold the Water Code and return water to ʻōiwi communities and the ʻāina, has done more for the people of Hawaiʻi than we've seen since the start of the commission 40 years ago, including:

• Mitigating decades of concerns and conflicts caused by the historical neglect of public trust purposes by updating instream flow standards for many East Maui streams to meaningful water levels.

• Protecting Native Hawaiian rights and the agricultural potential of West Maui from luxury developments by establishing interim instream flow standards and water management designations.

• Enhancing kānaka maoli efforts to restore the ecological and cultural integrity of Heʻeia, Oʻahu, one of our islands' few remaining "intact" ahupuaʻa through updating interim instream flow standards.

• Preserving the ecological, cultural, and agricultural integrity of Waiʻoli Stream, Kauaʻi by updating the interim instream flow standards.

• Ensuring that the commission's orders and laws improved and are more meaningfully upheld by addressing long-standing implementation and enforcement concerns, and much more.

Kaleo is a true leader who has a history of putting kānaka maoli and ʻāina before corporate interests.

• Respect the Maui Komohana Water Management Area
  Lāhainā was once full of wetlands and loko iʻa, but has been transformed by corporate water greed and poor land management into a parched desert, making it vulnerable to fire. Today, plantation owners-turned-luxury developers continue to use the infrastructure and mindset of their greedy predecessors, prioritizing profits from their high end developments with thirsty golf courses, pools, and landscaping, over the basic needs of communities.

  Native Hawaiian communities rooted in Maui Komohana have long fought for the return of water to their streams and to manage their own water. Finally, in 2022 after years of grassroots advocacy from Maui’s communities and water rights allies, the Water Commission designated the Maui Komohana Water Management Area. This designation means that any water use that removes groundwater or stream flows requires a permit from the Water Commission to ensure that water is fairly shared between users and is not wasted. The applications for the first set of permits ever issued in the Maui Komohana Water Management Area were due on August 7th, the day before the wildfires in Lāhainā.

  The governor’s attempt to repeal the management area is devastating for the communities that have fought so hard for many years for the return of their water.

• Recenter Maui kama‘āina in the decisions about their future
  Actions speak louder than words. Governor Green says that he is prioritizing Lāhainā resident’s needs in rebuilding, but his actions have not aligned so far. While real estate investors attempt to make their moves to buy up homes and land in Lāhainā, the governor is going full-speed ahead with his housing emergency proclamation, with the first projects proposed to ostensibly address lost homes in Lāhainā. The governor and his Chief Housing Officer went on to pull these items from their working group discussion after public outcry, while pretending like they never attempted to use the emergency proclamation to re-develop Lāhainā.

  The governor’s housing emergency proclamation was already problematic. Now with the governor’s attempts to use his proclamation in Lāhainā and his threats to put some of the measures in the proclamation before the legislature, everyone should be concerned.

  Maui’s residents deserve time to grieve and heal before decisions are made about how Lāhainā proceeds into the future.

• Reassure full public transparency in meetings and decision making
  The series of emergency proclamations that Governor Green has signed following the fires on Maui have suspended the Sunshine Law and other measures to ensure public transparency in meetings and decision making. Public transparency laws are in place to uphold good governance, public participation, and decision maker accountability. Suspending these laws threatens our democracy today and the future.

Alarmingly, this was not the only attempt by large wealthy landowners to go for a massive water grab in the wake of the devastating fires that swept through Maui Komohana and Kula. Click here to learn more about the water theft attempts in Maui Hikina (East Maui).

You can also learn more about the fight for water across the islands at olaikawai.org

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