Finding Balance for East Maui Streams

Everyone agrees that we need balance. But for A&B balance means: Dam(n) the streams! Drain a dozen of them dry! And use the county as a human shield to justify diverting enough water to avoid disgorging $62 million in profits from the sale of public water!

An undiverted East Maui stream can look this:

Waiohue Stream

In contrast, the Board of Land and Natural Resources has authorized our streams to look like this, with diversions taking all the water from these streams, leaving dry stream beds:

Hoʻolawa Liʻiliʻi Wailoa Ditch

Hoʻolawanui Intake

And the Board has also turned a blind eye to the garbage that A&B has strewn in our streams:

Abandoned Ditch in Hoʻolawanui Stream

When our streams are drained dry, native aquatic species cannot survive. The Board of Land and Natural Resources has authorized A&B to take so much water from these streams that, according to A&B’s own study, the amount of habitat units in these streams is reduced by 85%.

We are awaiting word from the court on our motion to prevent A&B from diverting more water until a proper analysis is done of the impacts of the diversions, which streams are most impacted, and how precisely the water is being used. Our trial is expected to commence on August 3, if COVID-19 circumstances allow for it.

We are hopeful his vital litigation will bring justice to East Maui’s streams and the lives that depend on them. You can directly support this litigation by donating tax-deductible funds to the Hawaiʻi Chapter online today.

In the meantime, on May 5, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the Board of Land and Natural Resources' annual approval of permits allowing Alexander & Baldwin and East Maui Irrigation to take millions of gallons of water from dozens of East Maui streams without the completion of an environmental impact statement. The Sierra Club submitted a “Friend of the Court” brief supporting the East Maui taro farmers who filed the case.