The approved permit to Alexander & Baldwin and East Maui Irrigation Co. includes 31.25 million gallons per day for agricultural use, 6 million gallons per day for Maui County and 1 million for Kula Agricultural Park.
The Wailua Reservoir Dam was built a century ago to provide water for a thriving sugar industry on Kauai. With the sugar plantations long gone and agriculture on the decline, the reservoir and dam now run by the state no longer serve their original purpose.
Hawaiʻi lawmakers are considering streamlining the process for taro farmers looking to secure freshwater for their crops a complex and time-consuming task that often requires a lawyer. HPR’s Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports the measure was prompted in part by a group of kalo farmers from Kauaʻi’s north shore.
Hawaiʻi lawmakers are considering a measure that would transfer to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs hundreds of millions of dollars in public land trust revenues – money long withheld from the agency. HPR’s Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi has more.
A company owned by the Canadian Public Sector Pension Investment Board has maintained a single-minded focus on controlling East Maui water since it bought 41,000 acres of ag land in November 2018.