HAIKU - The state Commission on Water Resource Management voted unanimously Thursday on a precedent-setting ruling to restore at least 12.21 million gallons a day of water into eight East Maui streams that are often reduced to trickles.

For more than 125 years, plantations on Maui have diverted water from the streams using a series of ditches and diversions to irrigate fields of sugar cane, pineapple and produce in Central Maui and in Kula.

In the process, stream flows were cut to lower elevations, affecting taro farmers as well as habitat for native stream flora and fauna. Water diverted by the East Maui Irrigation Co. flows to Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., which averages 160 million gallons of water a day to cultivate about 30,000 acres on Maui.

The commissioners' vote is a historic effort to resolve a 2001 petition filed by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. on behalf of Na Moku Aupuni O Koolau Hui and taro farmers Beatrice Kekahuna, Marjorie Wallet and Elizabeth Lapenia demanding the state establish instream flow standards for the East Maui watershed.

"This is a monumental change," said water commission Chairwoman Laura Thielen, saying that Thursday's decision will have effects felt across the state.

Taro farmers in East Maui say their summer crop is being ruined by a lack of water and the failure of a state commission to maintain stream flows to their patches.

Through a system of ditches that had its beginnings in 1876, East Maui Irrigation supplies 126 billion gallons of water per year to its sister firm, Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., and 3 billion gallons to Upcountry Maui residents and farmers.

Native Hawaiian taro farmers have argued that the ditches are on ceded lands, a portion of which belongs to them under the Statehood Act, yet they have not received the benefits from the lands.

Alan Murakami, an attorney for the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., said Alexander & Baldwin is profiting from the agreement with the state and pays only one-fifth of 1 cent per 1,000 gallons for East Maui water, while most Maui farmers pay more than 35 cents per 1,000 gallons.

The state Commission on Water Resource Management is currently reviewing stream flow standards of five areas in East Maui, including Honopou, Hanehoi, Piinaau, Waiokamilo and Wailuanui. The comment deadline is tomorrow.

If you drove out, as I did, on Saturday, April 26, 2008, the first day of Hana’s 16th annual East Maui Taro Festival, it would have been difficult to ignore the series of bright hand-lettered signs posted on some of the one-lane bridges. They were taped in front of the places where you have to slow down or stop to let cars coming toward you pass by.

The first and largest sign, just before Twin Falls, was painted on what looked like a white bed sheet, and was tacked to a steep cliff on the right hand side of the road. It said, H20 for Honopou. A couple of miles further down the road, you would have seen a poster with Face the facts written on it. And then, at two or three mile intervals, signs appeared on the bridges saying, Fact #1: EMI diverts 160 million gallons a day; Fact #2: The amount of diverted water is enough to feed the entire island of Oahu; Fact #3: The Constitution of the State of Hawaii renders these diversions impermissible and illegal!; Fact #4: Loss of stream and marine life is accredited to these diversions; Fact #5: East Maui Hawaiians have fought over 120 years to restore stream flow. Today the fight continues…; Fact #6: Native Hawaiians and residents rely on these streams to live sustainably and to preserve Hawaiian culture.

And then, just after you round the bend and drive past the sweeping full-on view of deep, beautiful Honomanu Bay, traffic slowed to a crawl as cars threaded by crowds of Hawaiian taro farmers from all the major islands (and many others, including videographers from AKAKU television station) standing on the road and on the bridge, holding signs and passing out literature, trying to raise awareness and inform people passing by about the fact that massive amounts of stream water – the water they rely on to grow taro and feed their families – have been diverted by East Maui Irrigation Company for years. The farmers are demanding, once again but more emphatically than ever, that the water be restored to those streams. They are demanding justice.

Tour the Taro

Drive 10 miles past Hana to the paved road's end, and there you'll find the town of Kipahulu. Here at Kapahu Living Farm, a model of self-sustaining native Hawaiian community circa 1778-1848, community members come together to plant and tend taro patches on centuries-old terraces. Then they pound the tuberous taro root into poi, a staple in the Hawaiian diet, which is shared at family celebrations throughout the year. The farm also harvests other culturally significant "canoe plants" - first brought to Hawaii on ancient voyaging canoes - such as heirloom varieties of banana, breadfruit, sugar cane and mountain apple. The community is then invited to partake in this harvest. Because Kapahu emphasizes education, they will reconstruct a 36-foot boat to teach youth about fishing and marine-resource stewardship for their next project. Visitors to the farm can tour the ancient patches, learn traditional taro-cultivation methods and, in season, pound taro into poi. kipahulu.org - KSR

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Eastside Hui spokesman Kema Kanakaole said east Maui has limited mountain and ocean resources and he doesn't want people from Oahu loading their vehicles with fish and depleting resources in the way they have on their island.

"Out in the country we're not set up for massive amounts of people," said Kanakaole. "We want to protect our resources."

Kanakaole said his advice to Oahu people who want to come to Maui to do coastal fishing is to "go home and take care of their ice box, so they get fish."
[...]
Steven Ho'okano, another organizer, said the state, including Gov. Linda Lingle's administration, hasn't been doing their job of protecting resources in east Maui by having enough conservation officers.

Eastside Hui officials have noted the absence of conservation enforcement, especially since a conservation officer who lived in Hana retired.

Ho'okano said that while the Superferry has received $40 million to improve Kahului Harbor, there has been inadequate funding to protect the traditional and customary rights of Hawaiians, as guaranteed by the state Constitution.

"The state of Hawaii is to blame," he said.

Randy Awo, the Maui chief for state conservation enforcement, said his branch could use more staffing to be more effective.

Awo said even when it had a conservation officer living in the Hana district, the officer was sometimes assigned to duties outside of the region.

We don't want people to come into Hana and just raid the area," said Kema Kanaka'ole, a 31-year-old Hana resident and member of the East Maui Resource Management Hui.
[...]
Kanaka'ole was limited to speaking only about his concerns, although he did tell Cardoza that his fears are shared by others East Maui residents.

"The whole side of East Maui is backing me up," he said. "The people of Hana are scared right now of the effects."

What's the worst thing that can happen when Superferry officials are trying to prove that they are a benign, even beneficial, presence on the Neighbor Islands, and when O'ahu people are seething at the insulting suggestion that they might go Neighbor Island and steal stuff?

Some thieves could go Neighbor Island and steal stuff. Aiyah.

The point is that no one thought of this ahead of time.