Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 4, 1 April 1995 — OHA objects to Bishop Estate water permit [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA objects to Bishop Estate water permit

by Kina'u Boyd Kamali'i Trustee-At-Large It hurts when one Hawaiian agency must puhlieh challenge the actions of another Hawaiian institution; but there are clearly times when speaking up is in the best interest of all. From this spirit of eoneem for all Hawaiians, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) is filing a formal objection to Bishop

jastate s appncation ior a water use permit from the Waiawa Development tunnel section of the Waiāhole Ditch system. This objection was filed with reluctance. Obviously, OHA has supported and will continue to support the Kamehameha Schools in its educational mission and in its effort to maintain the legacy of Ali'i Pauahi. But OHA views this

water permit application by Bishop Estate and the nature of their arguments in support of the application as insensitive to the long-term needs, and as potentially violating the rights, of the Hawaiian people. Ptuticularly troubling is their argument that Bishop Estate "owns" the water in the same way and as a consequence of owning land. The federal court, in its ruling on the McBryde sugar case, the state water code, and native Hawaiian tradition and law have rejected this assertion of owning water. Water is vital to life, and must be managed as a public trust - not a commodity to be owned. Gentry Development Company wants to develop "Waiawa by Gentry" on 1,575 acres of Bishop Estate land on Waiawa Ridge. This development would include 13,255 dwelling units, an enlarged commercial-industrial area, and two 1 8-hole golf courses. In its written objection, OHA enumerates its concerns about Bishop Estate's applieation. OHA states that Bishop Estate has failed to show that its proposed water uses are "reasonable and beneficial" and consistent with the puhlie interest. Use of Waiāhole Ditch system water for dust control, irrigation of roadside vegetation, and golf course irrigation is not in the public interest, especially in light of the over-

riding need to accommodate the water needs of native Hawaiians and Hawaiians on ceded lands and Hawaiian Home Lands, and of those engaged in traditional and customary practices like taro cultivation on the windward side of O'ahu. At stake is the future of Windward O'ahu stream and estuarian ecosystems, habitats where endangered species may flourish, provide an adequate instream flow is main-

tained. Also at stake is water for the present and foreseeable needs of native Hawaiians. Because windward rights are affected, OHA contends it is inappropriate for the Commission on Water Resource Management (COWRM) to act on Bishop Estate's application prior to the pending consolidated case hearing on the reallocation

of water in the Waiāhole Ditch system. In its written objection, OHA says "the commission (COWRM) has wisely determined it is appropriate to consolidate many of these issues in order to make reasoned and comprehensive decisions, rather than acting in a pieeemeal and potentially inconsistent fashion." In filing its objection, OHA is in reality making a plea to the Bishop Estate to reconsider its decision. Is developing Waiawa Ridge truly in the best interest of the beneficiaries under its trust? Granted, native Hawaiian students need classrooms, books, computers and teachers. They also need to be able to live on an island where the traditions and culture of their people are maintained and where verdant valleys and running streams ean support taro growing, the restoration of fishponds, and the gathering of traditional foods from streams such as 'o'opu, hlhīwai and 'ōpae. However, if the Hawaiian people are to survive and to build a sovereign nation, they must maintain their ties to their history and their culture, their land and their water. The short-term payoffs generated by the development of golf courses and suburban residential areas will in the long tenn be destructive of values that are essential to the ultimate mission of the Bishop Estate.