Plan aims to
restore water to
Waiahole streams

A state panel's scheme
may mean less water for
Leeward Oahu

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By Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.com

The water in Waiahole, Waianu, Waikane and Kahana streams in Windward Oahu may be restored to their pre-1911 levels, under a new state water use plan for the Waiahole Ditch.

But the plan could also mean less water for Leeward Oahu landowners and farmers.

The plan is a step in the right direction for Windward Oahu farmers and residents, said attorney Alan Murakami of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., which along with the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund represents the Waiahole-Waikane community and other Windward interests.

Murakami said yesterday the state Commission on Water Resource Management needs to make protection of stream and stream life a priority.

A 134-page proposed order by Dr. Lawrence D. Miike, state health director, now faces oral arguments before final approval by the commission. Miike recommends that stream flows be restored before the state grants water permits for agricultural and non-agricultural uses of the ditch water.

Miike's recommendation comes after the commission this spring revisited portions of its controversial December 1997 decision that granted water use permits for the ditch. The review was required after the Hawaii Supreme Court in August 2000 vacated part of the commission's decision and remanded it for more findings and hearings.

Among the items questioned by the Hawaii justices was how the commission determined what amount of water would flow through Windward streams; the actual need for 2,500 gallons per acre per day for diversified agriculture on the Leeward side; the practicality of two Leeward parties using alternative ground-water sources; and the need for a permit to cover water losses because of the aging ditch system.

Miike put the amount of water currently flowing through the Waiahole Ditch at 40 million gallons per day. He estimates these streams were affected by the ditch construction 86 years ago, but degradation of the stream levels most likely occurred in the 1960s by other factors.

"The commission finds that it is practicable to use increased stream flows to partially compensate for the other factors that have affected the vitality of the streams, as well as to increase the contribution that these stream flows may have on the vitality of Kaneohe Bay," Miike said in his proposed order.

"These precautionary actions are taken to protect and enhance instream values in the Windward streams affected by the Waiahole Ditch and Tunnel system," he said.

Murakami questioned Miike's decision to grant permits to Leeward interests such as Campbell Estate and Puu Makakilo Inc., a golf course developer, when alternate uses are available.

The ditch was built between 1913 and 1915 and designed to transport water from the Waiahole-Waikane watershed to dry Central and Leeward Oahu fields for sugar cane irrigation. When Oahu Sugar Co. shut down in 1995, Windward interests demanded the water be returned to restore the streams' ecosystems, while Leeward farmers wanted to continue its flow for diversified agriculture and other uses.

Miike explained in his order that both parties deserve use of the ditch water because it is the better alternative for them than Leeward groundwater sources like the Pearl Harbor aquifer, which must be used for domestic purposes first before irrigation.

Attorney Alan M. Oshima, who represents Campbell Estate in this case, said he cannot comment yet on Miike's lengthy and complicated ruling. It has not been decided yet whether the estate will file any exceptions to it, he said.

"It's very complex and very thorough, and we need to understand how all the pieces come together," Oshima said.

State Deputy Attorney General Marjorie A. Lau, who represents the state Department of Agriculture and the state Agribusiness Development Corp., owners and operators of the ditch, said the state is reviewing the decision and does not know whether it will challenge its findings.

Linnel T. Nishioka, the commission's deputy director, said parties in the case have until Sept. 4 to file any objections to the decision.

Nishioka said the goal is to hold oral arguments on the decision in September or October, with final approval by the commission before year's end.