Please make a tax-deductible donation to help cover Legal Notice costs for essential Water Use Permit Applications.
UPDATE: Stream Restoration Legal Efforts Make Progress
Efforts by Hui o Na Wai ‘Eha, Maui Tomorrow and Earthjustice to restore continuous mauka to makai stream flows to the four great waters of ‘Iao, Waiehu, Waihe‘e and Waikapu are moving forward through the state’s contested case hearing process. A favorable decision by the contested case hearings officer recommended that half of the flow be returned to the streams (currently less than 5% of the flow remains in the streams). This recommendation will be discussed by the State Water Commission at a meeting later this year when a final decision will be made.
UPDATE: Important Permitting Tool Proves Need for Stream Restoration Another important step in protecting Na Wai ‘Eha streams is already underway. Up until 2008, large corporations could divert millions of gallons of Na Wai ‘Eha water from streams with little reporting or accountability. This led to diverted water being dumped and wasted, with no way for state officials or citizens to track the misuse of public trust resources.
All this changed in April 2008 when the four streams were designated as Hawai‘i’s first "Surface Water Management Area." Designation is a necessary first step in regulating water use. Although the Water Commission is responsible for managing all of Hawai’i’s water resources, it has administrative control through water use permitting in designated water management areas only. Therefore, absent designation, the Water Commission has only limited control over surface water use.
Many surface waters have been proposed for designation over the years, but Na Wai ‘Eha was the first to actually achieve this important status. As a result of the Water Commission’s action, Na Wai ‘Eha is now under the Water Commission’s direct management, triggering a permit requirement for any diversion, impoundment, or consumptive use of water from streams or springs in this area.
Due to the complexity of this legal process, the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Hawai‘i Law School was asked to assist community members in completing permit applications. Many staff and volunteers have worked hard to help guide Na Wai ‘Eha community water users through the Water Use Permit Application (WUPA) process. This effort was made possible with a grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and hundreds of hours of volunteered time, but these individual applications provide indisputable "proof" of the need to return adequate water to the streams to meet the constitutionally protected rights of traditional agriculture, and local communities.
In addition, the permits issued by the Water Commission will be critical to ensure that sufficient water is provided to the streams and community members who depend on them.
The last step in the WUPA process involves paying a fee to publish the record of each application as a legal notice in the local newspaper. Hui o Na Wai ‘Eha, Maui Tomorrow and our allies need your kokua to raise the $6,000 necessary to cover these publication fees, to relieve the family farmers (many of whom are kupuna on a limited income) of that added burden.
Please send donations to Hui o Na Wai ‘Eha c/o John V. Duey 575A ‘Iao Valley Road, Wailuku Hawai‘i 96793-3007