Judge delays Maui
water diversion leaseTaro farmers claim victory,
but some say sugar cane growers
are adversely affected
WAILUKU >> Native Hawaiian Ed Wendt has hailed a judge's ruling to delay a 30-year lease for Alexander & Baldwin Inc. to divert water as a victory for taro farmers in East Maui.
But a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin warned the ruling could have an adverse impact on long-term planning for its 37,000 acres of sugar cane on the Valley Isle.
General Manager Stephen Holaday said Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. would not be willing to invest large sums of capital in long-term projects without knowing if it would get enough water.
Alexander & Baldwin said it is waiting for the written ruling from Oahu Circuit Judge Eden Hifo and will be discussing her decision with their attorneys before deciding whether to file an appeal.
Hifo ruled Wednesday that the state Land Board could not issue the land lease until an environmental assessment reviewed the impact of the water diversion in East Maui. If an environmental assessment finds potential repercussion, an environmental impact statement may be required.
Alexander & Baldwin had argued that an environmental assessment was unnecessary because it had "grandfathered rights" and was not proposing to expand its water diversion.
East Maui Irrigation Co., a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, diverts water from streams flowing between Nahiku and Haiku and delivers the water for agricultural, commercial and county domestic use for Upcountry areas.
The county uses 2 million to 7 million gallons a day, and the state agricultural park in Kula uses about 2 million.
The land leases for the diversion started when Hawaii was a kingdom under King Kalakaua in 1878 and continued through the early 1980s, when taro farmers protested the long-term leases.
Earlier this year, the Land Board gave Alexander & Baldwin the authorization to proceed with a process to lease the lands for 30 years.
Wendt, whose preservation group Na Moku Aupuni O Koolau Hui is one of the groups that filed a lawsuit against the board's decision, said he felt good about the judge's ruling.
He said the lack of stream flow has discouraged many farmers in East Maui from growing taro and estimated the number of taro farmers has declined 70 percent from 20 years ago.
"At one time we were flourishing," he said.
Ron Sturtz, president of another litigant, Maui Tomorrow, said he felt all the parties should sit down and work out a solution for water allocation.
Attorney Alan Murakami, representing native Hawaiian taro farmers, said although the judge's ruling did not focus on the current leasing arrangement, he does not believe Alexander & Baldwin should continue to have the revocable permits.
Murakami, litigation director for the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., said the ditch system in East Maui diverts about 160 million gallons of water daily, an amount about equal to the water consumption on Oahu.
Alexander & Baldwin said it wanted to extend the annual revocable permit to a 30-year lease.
The state Department of Land & Natural Resources said it would need to study Hifo's written ruling before issuing comments or taking action.
County Water Director George Tengan said he did not know exactly what the impact of the ruling might be.
Tengan said if East Maui Irrigation's share of the flow is eventually reduced, there may not be enough water for the county during a drought.
