Water rights cases in East and West Maui

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E kala mai

The table of contents and a jumpline in the August 2018 issue of Ka Wai Ola incorrectly identified East Maui streams as Nā Wai Eha in an article on page 6. There are water rights cases in both East and West Maui; the standards established by the State Commission on Water Resource Management apply only to East Maui streams. Mahealani Wendt, a community advocate on Maui and former executive director of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, provided a table that helps distinguish between the East and West Maui stream systems and the legal cases that apply to them.

East Maui West Maui
Plaintiffs/Parties Na Moku Aupuni o Ko‘olau Hui; Beatrice Kekahuna, Marjorie Wallet, Lynn Scott; Maui Tomorrow Kaulana o Na Wai Eha
Attorneys Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation; Isaac Hall Earthjustice
Permittee(s) Alexander & Baldwin, Hawaiian Cane & Sugar, East Maui Irrigation Wailuku Water Company

Wailuku Sugar Company

Ditches constructed 1878

Samuel Thomas Alexander

Henry Perrine Baldwin

1882

Claus Spreckles

Legal petitions filed 2001 2004
Amount diverted

(in comparison, all of Oahu consumes 155 million gallons per day)

450 million gallons/day 70 million gallons/day
Streams petitioned Nahiku Lease Area:

  • Makapipi
  • Hanawi
  • Kapaula

Keanae Lease Area:

  • Waiaaka
  • Pa‘akea
  • Waiohue
  • Kopiliula (Puaka‘a tributary)
  • East Waluaiki
  • West Wailuaiki
  • Wailuanui
  • Kulani (aka Hamau)
  • Waiokamilo
  • Ohi‘a (Waianu)
  • Palauhulu
  • Pi‘ina‘au

Honomanu Lease Area:

  • Nu‘ailua
  • Honomanū
  • Punalau Ha‘ipua‘ena

Huelo Lease Area:

  • Puohokamoa
  • Wahinepe‘e
  • Waikamoi (Alo tributary)
  • Hanehoi
  • Honopou
Waihe‘e River

Waiehu Stream

Wailuku River

Waikapū Stream