Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 6, 1 June 1996 — OHA wraps up testimony in Waiāhole ditch case [ARTICLE]

OHA wraps up testimony in Waiāhole ditch case

Last month, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) gave its final testimony before the Commission on Water Resource Management in the Waiāhole Ditch Combined Contested Case. The Native Hawaiian Advisory Council (NHAC) and OHA's legal representative, retired Judge Walter Meheula Heen, wrapped up their case with testimony from three key wimesses who supported ending the diversion of windward water and restoring windward streams. Pualani Kanaka'ole Kanahele, a Hawaiian cultural authority recognized by the Smithsonian

Institute, presented testimony on the spiritual history of WaiKāne Valley and its re!ation to Kāne, the god of water and procreation. Kanahele testified that water in this region was vital to the restoration of the spiritual and cultural heritage of the Hawaiian people. OHA Trustee Kina'u Boyd Kamali'i and OHA Land and Natural Resources Officer Linda Kawai'ono Delaney also testified. Kamali'i's testimony focused on OHA's current and planned programs for reestablishing traditional and customary Hawaiian rights and practices and the need for the return of water from the Waiāhole Ditch. Delaney's testimony focused on the Hawai'i Supreme Court decision in Public Access Shoreline vs. Hawai'i County Planning Commission (also known as the "Kohanaiki" case)

whieh requires govemment agencies to aeeommodate the need of Hawaiians to engage in traditionai and customaiy religious, cultural and subsistence practices where feasible. For nearly 80 years, water from the Waiāhole Ditch has been diverted to leeward and central O'ahu to irrigate sugarcane and pineapple fields. Restoring windward stream flows became a possibility when Amfac announced the closing of its sugarcane operation in central O'ahu. Nearly 24 million gallons of water a day was thus subject to reallocation permits for new uses.

Supporters of ending the diversion say restoration of the streams will help reestablish, preserve and perpetuate traditional and customary Hawaiian practices in windward O'ahu. Stream restoration will also make possible the cultivation of kalo and sweet potato and the gathering of 'opae, hihiwai and 'o'opu and the return of a rich ecosystem needed to support many Hawaiian religious, spiritual and cultural practices. "The Commission cannot ignore the mandate to recognize Hawaiian water rights," Judge Heen, OHA's lead counsel said. Kamali'i added, "For most Hawaiians, land and sovereignty represent a source of spiritual sustenanee and identity, not merely material weahh and power."