Protect West Maui’s Water!

Next week, the Commission on Water Resource Management will be taking public testimony on a proposal to designate water management area protections for the streams and aquifers of West Maui, from Ukumehame to Honokōhau.  

Please consider testifying in support of water management area designation for West Maui at the Water Commission’s public hearing on Tuesday, April 26, at 5:30 p.m. at Keōpūolani Hall at Waiola Church, 535 Waineʻe Street, Lahaina, Hawaiʻi 96761.

If you can’t testify in person, you can also send your written testimony by April 26 to dlnr.cwrm@hawaii.gov or to the Commission on Water Resource Management, P.O. Box 621, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96809.

Sample testimony is provided below.

A Water Management Area Designation allows the Water Commission to ensure that all water uses are consistent with the public trust and protective of the environment, Native Hawaiian rights, and other public trust purposes. Competing uses can also be appropriately balanced to ensure maximum benefit for present and future generations.

This designation is important because West Maui’s streams and aquifers are suffering from diminished rainfall, ongoing stream diversions, and increased demands from new developments, including luxury residences on agricultural lands. The sustainable yield has nearly been reached in some areas, and Native Hawaiian kuleana owners and farmers are already being cut off from the water they need.

SAMPLE TESTIMONY:

Aloha,

My name is _______ from _______, and I am testifying in STRONG SUPPORT of ground and surface water management area designation for the Lahaina Aquifer Sector. Water is our most precious resource, and our constitution and laws require that water be carefully protected and managed to ensure its availability for the benefit of present and future generations. With diminishing rainfall levels, projected significant increases in water demands, and conflicts already arising over the use of West Maui’s water, it is time for the Water Commission to step in, and implement the water management area designation that will enable it to uphold the public trust, and balance the water needs of West Maui’s people and environment. 

Please implement water management designation now, so that we can begin the discussion over West Maui’s water future sooner rather than later, and before development and planning decisions result in less-than-appropriate water uses that may be much more difficult and costly to reverse than prevent.

Mahalo nui for your consideration of my testimony,
[your name]