Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 6, 1 June 1995 — Waiāhole: who gets to use the water? [ARTICLE]

Waiāhole: who gets to use the water?

Who will get to use the water from Waiāhole Stream? The state Commission on Water Resource Management determined at its May 17 meeting that 24 parties will have standing to be heard in a eontested case hearing, tentatively scheduled for midJuly on O'ahu. Those petitioners determined by the commission to have legally protected interests include: • major agricultural landowners (such as Amfac, Waiāhole Irrigation Co., Campbell Estate, Robinson Estate, Dole/Castle & Cooke) • state Department of Land and Natural Resources • Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate • the Hawai'i Farm Bureau • Office of Hawaiian Affairs • community organizations including the Kahalu'u Neighborhood Board #29, the Waiāhole-Waikāne Community Asociation and the Hakipu'u 'Ohana. Govemment agencies with jurisdiction over the land or water involved will also have standing, such as the Department of Agriculture, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and the City and County of Honolulu planning department and board of water supply. Also granted standing were applicants with a "substantial interest," including water-use applicants: the Department of the Navy, Halekua Development Corp., Pu'u Makakilo, West Beach Estates, and groups with long-range, statewide interests such as Hawai'i's Thousand Friends and the Land Use Research Foundation. Since no commission decision is expected on the long-term allocation of water from the Waiāhole Ditch until at least November this, the commission had adopted a six-month interim plan whieh allowed 8 million gallons a day (mgd) to flow in

the Waiāhole Irrigation Ditch, with the remainder (12-14 mgd) returned to Waiāhole Stream. OHA supported extending this mediated agreement beyond its June 16 deadline. Water commission staff, however, have recommended an additional 2 mgd bc allocatcd to the ditch in anticipation of increased summer needs. The commission deferred decision on this issue to its May 25 meeting. In the belief that traditional and contemporary Hawaiian rights to water need to be proteeted, OHA has requested a water reservation of 1 1 mgd for present and future uses of water for traditional and customary agriculture on ceded lands in the Waiāhole watershed. OHA has also filed a petition to amend the interim instream flow standard for all windward O'ahu stream flows impacted by diversions of water to the Waiāhole Ditch. This would lead to incrcased taro cultivation, help restore the "ecologicaI vitality" of the streams, and allow for the gathering of traditional foods such as 'o'opu, hīhīwai and 'ōpae OHA also has expressed objections to the wateruse permit application filed by Dole Food Co., and to a water reservation requested by Bishop Estate. OHA believes that the amounts requested will exceed the sustainable yield of the WaipahuWaiawa aquifer whieh is now fed by the Waiāhole stream water. In addition, OHA also objects to the KS/BE application whieh claims that it owns the ground water flowing through and percolating from its lands, and does not acknowledge that water is part of the public trust. The commission has indicated that resolution of the controversies over O'ahu waters will demand meeting in contested case hearings for three days a week over the next six months.