Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 35, Number 7, 1 July 2018 — Decision issued in East Maui stream flow case [ARTICLE]

Decision issued in East Maui stream flow case

POKENŪHOU V NEWS BRIEFS "

The Native Hawaiian eommunities of East Maui have fought for 30 years for the restoration of sufficient stream flow to support their kalo farming, subsistence practices, and native stream and coastal marine life, as required under the state eonstitution and laws. That the contested case hearing underlying the June 20 state Commission on Water Resource Management decision took nearly two decades to resolve is in many ways an injustice in itself. While OHA is still fully reviewing the 300-page document that establishes minimum interim stream flow standards for 25 streams, we believe the decision represents a significant step to achieving justice for our East Maui beneficiaries who have sought a fairer distribution of public trust water that has been monopolized by industrial sugar interests for more than a century. OHA expresses its gratitude to the attomeys of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, who for over a decade have worked tirelessly to vindicate the rights wrongfully denied to our East Maui beneficiaries; to the hearings officer and commission members and staff who have dedicated a substantial amount time and resources to hopefully correct this ongoing injustice; and most of all to our beneficiaries themselves who have sacrificed so mueh to hold the state and powerful corporate interests accountable to our constitution and to the public trust. - Joint statement from OHA Chair Colette Maehaāo, Maui Trustee Hulu Lindsey and CEO Kamana 'opono Crabbe