Kauaʻi Water Decision: On September 30, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court ruled that the state Board of Land and Natural Resources should not have denied contested case hearing requests by Kia‘i Wai O Wai‘ale‘ale and Friends of Māhāʻulepū over revocable permits … Continued
Do the interim instream flow standards for East Maui need to be revised again to meet off-stream uses in Upcountry and Central Maui? Even when the current flow standards haven’t been fully implemented? On October 27, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser ran … Continued
On October 29, Environmental Court Judge Lisa W. Cataldo issued an opinion in the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi’s appeal of a June 30, 2022, contested case decision by the Board of Land and Natural Resources to approve revocable permits allowing … Continued
Trail Contract: After a jury found in April 2014 that the state — not Haleakala Ranch Company — owns the historic Haleakalā bridle trail, plaintiff David Brown, the executive director of Public Access Trails Hawaiʻi, stated,“We have a moral obligation … Continued
Court Rebuke for BLNR: The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court has issued its ruling in the challenge brought by several Kauaʻi groups to the state Board of Land and Natural Resources’ issuance of a revocable permit to the seed company Syngenta Hawaiʻi, … Continued
Above photo: A stream diversion in East Maui. CREDIT: SIERRA CLUB OF HAWAI‘I. Last month, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court granted applications for a writ of certiorari from both sides of a case involving the state Board of Land and Natural Resources’ renewal … Continued
The allocation of water in west Maui is a complicated issue. In 2022, the state Commission on Water Resource Management voted to designate both stream and surface waters as management areas, with all existing and new users required to apply … Continued
At the July 15 meeting of the Commission on Water Resource Management, commissioner Aurora Kagawa-Viviani was puzzled by a staff proposal to have the commission give its approval to proceed with development of a “first-generation” adaptive management plan for the … Continued
At the July 15 meeting of the Commission on Water Resource Management, director Ciara Kahahane provided a description of the funds available to support development of an Adaptive Management Plan for the Keauhou Aquifer Sector Area. There was an unspecified … Continued
On May 20, the state Commission on Water Resource Management voted unanimously to accept a petition by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply to designate the Waiʻanae aquifer sector as a ground water management area. The area incudes the aquifers … Continued