It will be at least another six months, and probably much longer than that, before the twin falls at the back of Waipi`o Valley are both running. The state Commission on Water Resource Management has voted to give Bishop Estate … Continued
Much ink has been spilled over the results of the 1998 Hawai`i Legislature. Several leading environmentalists, including David Frankel, executive director of the Hawai`i Chapter of the Sierra Club, have described it as the worst on record. Here, we take … Continued
The term of the first water license granted to Alexander and Baldwin was 20 years. Now, more than a century after that first license expired in 1896, A&B and its subsidiary, East Maui Irrigation Company, Ltd., take water from the … Continued
The taro lo`i of Ke`anae and Wailuanui in East Maui are surely among the most photographed in the islands, ranking high along with the famous patchwork of irrigated rice and taro fields at Hanalei Valley on Kaua`i or the shimmering … Continued
Since 1990, the Maui County Department of Water Supply has been counting on wells in the Ha’iku aquifer system to provide as much as 24 million gallons a day of water. The water would not be used to serve residents … Continued
The staff report prepared for the Water Commission’s August 13 meeting contains a good, readable synopsis of the problems facing ‘Iao aquifer. Here we reprint several key sections of that report: Duty to Protect On May 13, 1997, the commission … Continued
In August, the Commission on Water Resource Management decided against designating the ‘Iao aquifer on Maui as a water management area. The decision, taken at the commission’s August 13 meeting in Kahului was made on a five-to-one vote, with Department … Continued
The state Commission on Water Resource Management has deferred action on several after-the-fact applications for work in three streams near Papa`ikou, South Hilo. The deferral gives the commission staff time to evaluate a petition for a contested-case hearing on the … Continued
“But the figures, you know — we get all confused with it; it doesn’t add up.” -Buddy Nobriga, Water Commissioner One of the arguments mounted by the leeward parties in the Waiahole ditch contested case concerns the ability of Waiahole … Continued
In late December, the Water Commission heard testimony on the motion for a reconsideration of the order denying “existing use” status to several parties who had been denied use of Waiahole water in August 1995, when the commission issued its … Continued