Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 5, 1 May 2022 — Aloha mai kākou, [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Aloha mai kākou,

' 'OLELO A KA POUHANA * MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

Ola (nvs. Life, health, wellbeing, living, livelihood, means of support, salvation; alive, living.)

For decades, Kohala was defined by its sugar plantations. When I was born, sugar was the eeonomie engine of our community - and had been since the late 1800s. At one time there were six plantations, but by 1937 they had been consolidated as the Kohala Sugar Company, whieh finally closed down in 1975. It takes 500 gallons of water to produce just one pound of sugar and Kohala is not known for abundant rainfall. There is an 'ōlelo no'eau that goes: "nā 'ilina wai 'ole o Kohala" whieh means "the waterless plains of Kohala, where water will not remain long." To provide Kohala's thirsty eane fields with millions of gallons of fresh water eaeh day, all running natural surface waters from the Kohala-Hāmākua watershed were diverted via the Kohala Ditch. Growing up in a plantation community, my 'ohana and neighbors depended on the plantation for our livelihood. Keiki swam and played in the ditch that fed the fields. As a child I did not understand the deterimental impact that the diversion of the water had on our ecosystem, nor did I ponder how a few powerful men were able to control and hoard for their own enrichment such a vital natural resource. The fight for access to fresh water is not unique to Hawai'i. A hillion people across the planet laek access to elean water - whieh the United Nations has declared is a basic human right noting that governments should ensure that "Indigenous peoples' access to water resources on their ancestral lands is protected from encroachment and unlawful pollution." Corporate agriculture, residential and resort development, and other corporate or military interests (think Dakota Access Pipeline and Red Hill) perpetuate ongoing abuses of water resources in the name of profit. On Black Mesa, the ancestral homeland of the Hopi and Dine (Navajo) peoples, mining by the Pea-

body Coal Company has nearly depleted the aquifer they rely on for drinking water. In South America, Canada, India and the Philippines, Indigenous people are fighting governments and corporations to protect their access to water. Back at home, although the plantations have closed, the fight for freshwater remains contentious. Diversified agriculture corporations and resort developers, in particular, have replaced "sugar barons" and while there have recently been victories for small farmers, mueh work remains. Our cover article provides an overview of the fight for water rights on the island of Maui where the struggle has been particularly onerous. We are delighted

to weleome guest authors U'ilani Tanigawa Lum and Lu'ukie

Nakanelua, both of whom are attorneys on staff at K: Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law, and kupa of Maui.

At OHA, advocacy on behalf of our 'ohana, mo'omeheu and 'āina is our core kuleana. It is our responsibility to advocate for good policy on behalf of our lāhui and for more than 20 years, OHA has supported the efforts of mahi'ai and other kia'i wai on Maui, and will continue to do so until the island's streams are flowing and healthy onee again. Ola i ka wai. Water is life. ■

Sylvia M. Hussey, Ed.D. Chief Executive 0fficer