The state Commission on Water Resource Management reinstated First Deputy Kaleo Manuel on Monday, nearly two months after he was reassigned in a controversial move following the catastrophic Lahaina wildfire.
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Deputy Director Kaleo Manuel, who served as the commission’s executive director, received overwhelming support from a standing-room-only crowd that spilled out of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources boardroom in Honolulu.
A rally of Native Hawaiians and conservationists at the state Capitol in August called for the reinstatement of the Water Code, along with the authority of the Commission on Water Resource Management, which administers the code and the West Maui Water Management Area.