Native Hawaiian Rose Duey is one of the petitioners who want the state to force Wailuku Agribusiness Co. to reduce the amount of water it diverts from several streams serving Central Maui.
Maui groups petition
over shrinking flow
of streamsThe groups want Wailuku Agribusiness
to release more water into island streams
WAILUKU » As she tends to her taro patch, Rose Marie Duey looks at the low flow of Iao Stream, a level that she says has declined so much in the last 30 years that native shrimp and fish sometimes have difficulty completing their life-cycle journey upstream.
"My little grandchildren, when they go to the stream, get so distraught," said Duey, a native Hawaiian. "That's our Hawaiian culture: the 'opae, hihiwai and 'o'opu."
Duey is part of one of the groups that have filed a petition to have the state force Wailuku Agribusiness Co. to release more of the water it diverts from Iao and other streams in Central Maui to its ditch system.
The groups Hui o Na Wai 'Eha and Maui Tomorrow Foundation Inc. said the state is using standards that fail to protect native stream life, Hawaiian traditional practices and other uses.
The petition, similar to the landmark Waiahole Ditch case on Oahu, which ordered more water returned to Windward streams, could affect the future of land use in Central Maui.
The state Commission on Water Resource Management has not yet set a date to hear the petition, but stream users have been asked to submit written responses to the petition by Aug. 16, said Ed Sakoda, the commission's chief of stream protection and management branch.
County water officials stopped taking reservations for future housing developments in Central Maui after the state took control of ground-water sources at Iao. The state felt it had to move to protect the resource because the amount of ground water being used was nearing its maximum, or threshold.
Maui County then went looking for other sources of water.
Recently, Wailuku Agribusiness agreed to provide up to 3.2 million gallons of water a day to the county from Iao Stream as more housing subdivisions are developed in Central Maui. The county issues water-use permits as more water becomes available.
The petition comes at a time when major landowner Wailuku Agribusiness is selling off large portions of its land, prompting fears among some people about the future use of its extensive ditch system.
EarthJustice attorney Kapua Sproat, representing the groups, said the petitioners are asking the commission to use the state Water Code to scientifically establish sustainable water flow standards for streams at Waihee, Waiehu, Waikapu and Iao.
The interim stream flow standards for the four areas, established by the commission in 1988, allows water to be taken by existing diversions such as Wailuku Agribusiness ditches but bars any new diversions.
Sproat said since halting cultivation of sugar in the 1980s and then macadamia nuts in the 1990s, Wailuku Agribusiness is using substantially less water.
"The water not being used should be left in the stream," Sproat said. "All we're asking is only take what you need."
Scientific studies show increased water flow improves the habitat, reproduction and the rate of migration upstream for a number of native shrimp and fish species, according to the petition.
Sproat said returning the water to the stream will improve the recharge of ground water and improve the quality of life not only in streams, but also in the nearby ocean.
Wailuku Agribusiness President Avery Chumbley said there is no excess water and that all the water diverted from the streams is going to a number of users, including Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., Maui Pineapple Company Ltd., Maui Tropical Plantation and small farmers.
Chumbley said he found the petition "troublesome" for alleging that the firm was wasting water.
"We're not wasting water," he said. "There is no surplus water."
Chumbley said because of drought situations, there has been less water entering the streams.
He said the amount of water used for sugar cane irrigation is not enough for optimal growth.
Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa said he does not know the amount of water that should be returned to the streams, but his administration is in favor of the commission taking a look at the environmental worries expressed by the petitioners.
Arakawa said while Wailuku Agribusiness has said it needs the water for agriculture, it recently served eviction notices to more than 23 small farmers at Maalaea.
"All of that needs to be explored better," he said. "There needs to be a real accounting as to what's happening."
Duey said she is worried about the stream life, especially after hearing that the county will be getting up to 3.2 million gallons a day from Wailuku Agribusiness and no provision has been made to add more water into Iao Stream.
Duey said because of the lack of water, her grandchildren have sometimes carried native shrimp and fish in buckets from lower to upper elevations and returned them to the stream to complete their life cycle.
"If there is no water, where is the stream life? It's time the Water Commission pay attention to our stream flow," she said.
