HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A water control dispute between Maui’s mayor and the Green administration brought hours of controversy to the state’s land board on Friday.

Water rights advocates have joined the county to protest a plan that would give more leverage to a commercial farming operation — while traditional farmers beg for more water.

The same concept had been withdrawn in September after the mayor asked for more time.

Maui County leaders hope to take control of the island’s water system and were shocked to see Land and Natural Resources Board Chairwoman Dawn Chang revive her proposal for a hearing on a contested case that many fear would sabotage the county’s plan by giving too much away. leverage for farms in Mahi Pono.

“Let’s hear all the parties and have a hearing officer check all the issues with the parties, then come back to the board with a proposal,” Chang argued.

Mahi Pono is owned by a Canadian government pension fund on land sold by Alexander and Baldwin after it closed the Pioneer sugar plantation. Most of its water comes from creek diversions built by sugar companies over 100 years ago and managed as the East Maui Irrigation Company.

Mahi Pono representative Grant Nakama defended the contested case plan, which could lead to either a competitive bid or direct negotiations for a 30-year license to use the irrigation system.

“A contested case hearing will bring all relevant parties to the table while allowing discussion between those parties,” Nakama said.

Mayor Richard Bissen wrote a letter to Chang strongly urging her to delay the proposal to give the county time to work out an agreement with competing water users.

“It was a little alarming that all of a sudden we were thrust into a contested case hearing when no one asked us. And that was confusing,” Bissen said in an interview with Hawaii News Now.

The board heard from Gina Young, who started just two days ago as executive director of the newly formed East Maui Water Authority, who is taking the lead in water system planning, but she needs time, she said that the hearing of the disputed case will interrupt. .

“The county is being thrown into this as an afterthought … like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole,” she said.

East Maui residents Mary Ann Pahukoa’s land was along Waipio Creek — which she said has been 100 percent diverted by East Maui Irrigations canals and ditches.

She was frustrated with how often her family had to fight for water.

She argued for public control of the system and proper enforcement of requirements to allow traditional users to use the water.

“It just pains me that I have to keep coming to these hearings, it’s really misleading and confusing,” she said. “We keep coming here crying in front of you, because this water is my heart and soul.”

Hawaii Housing Commission Chairwoman Kali Watson also opposed hearing the contested case. The Homelands program is identified by law as having a higher priority for its water needs, alongside traditional farmers, ahead of commercial operations.

Watson said he believes negotiations should come first, before moving to a contested hearing process.

“It’s too long, it’s very expensive, and it often creates a lot of frustration,” Watson said.

The board moved against Chairman Chang by a vote of 5-2. We’re killing the idea of ​​a contested case and putting the county back in the driver’s seat for the long road ahead.

But the mayor said full county management or a privately run irrigation system would take some time.

“Predicting how long it’s going to take us to gain experience on a system that’s worked for 140 years is a, you know, it’s going to be a big, big task,” he said.

To maintain water service for the system’s many customers, the board is expected to issue a one-year permit to East Maui Irrigation.

The courts have pressured the DLNR to reduce its use of renewable permits, which Chang said he hopes to avoid.

At the hearing, a Sierra Club lawyer refused to promise that the organization would not file its own contested case if it was not satisfied with the terms of the permit, after what he said were repeated violations or permit conditions in the past.

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