Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 18, Number 9, 1 September 2001 — MAUI WATER DRAINED [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MAUI WATER DRAINED

Struggle boils between thirsty kalo farmers and water-guzzling sugar agribusiness

By Naomi Sodetani Throughout Maui, perennially lush sugar eane fields sway sensuously in the breeze. But driving along the winding road to Hāna, one is struck by the absence of another familiar sight. There are no waterfalls. Where countless cascades onee greeted travellers at every turn, there are only bone-dry stream beds and sad trickles that barely dampen the deep channels onee gouged out by gushing waters that no longer flow. And the emerald patchwork quilts of kalo lo'i that have graced the coastal landscape since time immemonal are also wilting, farmers say. Beatrice Kekahuna. 69, laments that the 25 lo'i that her late father had !ovingly tended now lie useless, parched. tlne could blame general warming patterns for four years of drought. One could blame the island's growing populaiion and suburban sprawl for over tapping its aquifers and streams and hindering groundwater recharge. But the Honopou farmer blames the "Big Five" conglomerate Alexander & Baldwin, ine. for being greedy. "They're killing us slowly," she says, "by taking every drop." Indeed. since 1876, the powerful agribusiness has diverted billions of gallons of water annually from virtually all East Maui streams to sustain its sugar and commercial operations. Meanwhile, East Maui residents like Kekahuna go without. But the farmer says, "It's time for them to share." When A&B recently requested a 30year lease, as well as the nenewal of its one-year revokable permit, Kekahuna

petitioned for a contested case hearing before the Board of Land and Natural Resources, whieh issues public land and water leases. The board has not yet set a hearing date. Kekahuna, Marjorie Wallett, Elizabeth Lapenia, and the Ke'anae community group Nā Moku Aupuni o Ko'olau seek to restore natural flow in dewatered streams within the 33,013 acres now leased to A&B. They assert that the company's monopolistic use deprives them of water they need to grow kalo, a native practice protected by law. Maui Tomorrow and the Coalition to Protect East Maui Water Resources also seek to block A&B's permit renewal,

claiming that the agribusiness' extensive usage already endangers stream and offshore aquatic life and depletes surface and ground water resources. A&B's subsidiary, the East Maui Irrigation Company, transports an average of 160 mgd — roughly the same amount consumed by all of 0'ahu's residents per day — to irrigate its fields in Maui's dry central plain. Spanning 74 miles, the EMI ditch is the largest private water delivery system in the U.S. At full capacity it ean deliver 445 mgd — 18 times as mueh as Oahu's Waiāhole Ditch and three times its length. See MAUI on page 5

Kekahuna and dried lo'i.

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One of the few undiverfed wcrfer sources. the magnicent "Big Springs" near Nāhiku (above) feeds a stream thaf still shows healthy levels of native stream life

A&B's 74-mile ditch (middle) transports billions of gallons per year from East Maui streams to irrigate its sugar crops, leaving most streams dry and depieted beiow ctversions. Sogar is a thirsty crop. To produce one pound ot sugar takes 500 gallons; a million gallons per 1 00 acres of sugarcane

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MAUI from page 1

A&B justifies its vast usage on the basis that it provides hundreds of jobs and maintains the ditch system and watershed. It also resells a small portion to the county for munieipal use. For unlimited siphoning privileges, A&B pays $158,284 — about $5 per million gallons. In contrast, Waiahole Ditch users will pay about $763.26 per million gallons. OHA Deputy Administrator Colin Kippen cited the "state's fiduciary obligation to require full compensation for the use of public lands" and pressed BLNR to eonduct a fair market appraisal. OHA and DHHL are entitled to 20 percent and 30 percent of lease revenues. A&B vice president Meredith Ching testified that a 30-year lease was "essential to HC&S' future viability" and asked BLNR to sell

the lease at public auction. Ching maintained that A&B leaves enough water in East Maui streams to serve the community's needs. But Kekahuna says that the meager flow that reaches her lo'i — if it reaches them at all — is warm and sluggish, conditions that kalo and native species can't survive. "The streams, even our lo'i, used to be full of hihiwai, 'o'opu, 'ōpae — but no more. If this keeps up, what will happen? We don't want more water; we neeā it," states the farmer, her voice rising in anger "And what about the tourists?" she adds. "Every day they ask, 'Where are all the famous waterfalls?'" ■ Naomi Sodetani is OHA 's publications editor. She is married to Natrve Hawaiian Legai Corporation attomey Alan Murakami. who represents several plaintiffs noted in this story.

East Maui's watershed is criss-crossed by a labyrinth of 74 miles of tunnels, ditches cand 388 intake diversions that capture the majority of stream flows, except in very rainy weather.

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