Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 12, 1 December 2008 — Water to return to East Maui loʻi kalo [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Water to return to East Maui loʻi kalo

By ī. Ilihia Giūūsūū Publicatiūūs Editur Lyn Scott is a full-time fanner of some very dry lo'i kalo in what should be one of the wettest parts

of Maui. "One day get water. Next day, auē! No mo' water," Scott said. "This past summer was really dry. Nothing was coming down the stream to replenish our springs. No water, no taro." The stream that should feed her lo'i in the ahupua'a of Honopou is one of many that are diverted to feed the irrigation and munieipal water needs of central Maui, at the expense of Native Hawaiian farmers growing traditional crops, such

as Scott. Thanks to tireless advocacy by fanners and legal help from the Native HawaiianLegal Corporation, some relief may be coming

soon to Scott's dry, cracked lo'i. A partial victory eame in September to a seven-year battle by East Maui kalo fanners to have sufficient water flow restored to the streams that feed their lo 'i. Although water use decisions should be made for the "maximum beneficial use" of water under the state water code, the code also requires that provisions must be made for the protection of traditional and customary Hawaiian

rights, an objective declared to be in the puhlie interest. But the water code was not being followed, and when it eame down to diverting about 160 million gallons of water a day for use in Central Maui or letting streams flow naturally down the Hāmākua coast to the sea, kalo farmers in East Maui were left with the dry end of the stick, argued a group of kalo fanners. The Native Hawaiian Legal

Corporation is representing Nā Moku Aupuni O Ko 'olau Hui, the group of kalo farmers from East Maui, in two proceedings with the goal of increasing the amount of water flowing in the streams that feed the lo'i kalo of these fanners; the first petitioning the state's Conunission on Water Resources Management to amend the flow standards by whieh water use decisions are made, and the second challenging the Board of Land

^ I and Natural Resources' (BLNR) permitting the removal and transport of water from these streams. September's partial victory eame in the first proceeding at a meeting of the water connnission. In 2001, NHLC filed petitions with the comnūssion on behalf of East Maui kalo farmers to amend flow standards for 27 East Maui streams. Petitions are allowed under the state's water code to See WATER on page 12

JUSTIGE ■ PŪNŪ KAULIKE

Partofan extensive system that diverts water from streaming is inspected. - Photo: Courtesy HHIC Beatrice Kekahuna, left, and her nieee Lyn Scott, both kalo farmers in Honopou, AAaui. - Photo: Blaine Pergerstrom

WAĪER

Cūntinued fram page 04 correct imbalances in the ecology of the stream and to respect water rights; in this case, for growing kalo. The law required the eommission to act on those petitions within 180 days. The purpose of the commission's flow standard is to ensure that any diversions of the stream do not have a negative effect on stream life or the water rights of downstream users, such as these kalo fanners. The problem with the existing flow standards for these streams was that they were established in 1988, many decades after water had been diverted by the East Maui Irrigation Co. The 1988 standards were established without regard for the water rights of the downstream users, allowing the diversion of water to eonhnue, according to Alan Murakami, the NHLC attorney handling the proceedings. In September, the commission decided to act upon the petitions

in eight of the 27 streams petitioned. But the changes haven't yet been put into plaee, because the current levels of the streams are still being measured so that the restored flow ean be eompared to the current flow. Onee the measurements are complete, the flow should be restored. S

■ ■ ' i Water has begun to flow to Ke'onoe kolo farmers since their agreement. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom