Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 2, 1 February 2016 — East Maui water diversions should not continue [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

East Maui water diversions should not continue

Submitted by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. Aloha. We are Na Moku Aupuni o Ko'olau Hui ("Na Moku"), a nonprofit organization whose members are East Maui taro farmers, fishermen, hunters and traditional practitioners seeking to continue traditions and customs dependent on naturally flowing streams. Beginning in the late 1980s, Na Moku sought to hold Alexander & Baldwin and East Maui Irrigation accountable for the harmful impacts their diversions had on East Maui's natural resources. For over 100 years, puhlie agencies allowed these diversions to continue, uninterrupted across 33,000 acres (and

from over 100 streams) of former Crown Lands even though the practice plainly violated state laws. In 2001, Na Moku joined with Honopou taro farmers and gatherers to formally oppose A&B's application for a 30-year license from the state Board of Land and Natural Resources to divert stream water from the Honomanu, Huelo, Ke'anae and Nahiku license areas. In 2003, Judge Hifo agreed with us, ruling that no long-termlease could be issued until an environmental assessment was completed. To date, none has been completed. Instead, for the past 13 years, the BLNR has authorized A&B's use via "temporary" month-to-month revocable permits on a "holdover" basis. On January 8, 2016, Judge Rhonda Nishimura of the First Cir-

cuit Court ruled that this 13-year practice was not "temporary" and plainly exceeded laws governing puhlie lands and waters. In this landmark ruling, Judge Nishimura invalidated all of these permits and reasoned that to decide otherwise would allow these commercial diversions to continue in perpetuity and in violation of the law. As a result of this decision, the state BLNR has no legal authority to continue authorizing A&B's massive diversions of water out of East Maui. Although A&B has asked Judge Nishimura to reconsider her decision, the ruling is a historic victory for constitution-ally-protected Native Hawaiian rights and the environment. ■

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Diverting water for agriculture has caused some East Maui streams to go dry. - Photo: Courtesy