Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 7, 1 July 1993 — Water reserved for Hawaiians, finally [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Water reserved for Hawaiians, finally

by Patrick Johnston

It has taken over seven decades but Hawaiians on O'ahu now have a specific amount of water reserved for future use. At a public hearing held June 2 at the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Water

Commission accepted a recommendation by DLNR that the Department of Hawaiian Homelands have 1.409 million gallons per day set aside for anticipated development on O'ahu homestead lands. The number was based on projected needs put forth by DHHL following a study of its planned

projects and lands they could foresee acquiring. The Water Commission was able to offer the reserved water after O'ahu Sugar Co. notified the state that it would be cutting back its water use by 10 million gallons per day, freeing up water for other private and state projects. Applications for water permits were submitted by Robinson Estate, Grace Pacific, Ine., the State Division of Water and Land Development, 'Ewa Plains Water Development Co., the Board of Water Supply and DHHL. Only the BWS and DHHL had their applications accepted by the Water Commission at the June 2 meeting. Other applications were either denied or deferred to a later date. DLNR engineer Roy Hardy, who presented the submittal to the Water Commission, said, "the commission accepted the recommendations they felt were most urgent. The Board of Water Supply needed water for some homes that were being built on the 'Ewa plain and the Native Hawaiian Advisory Council had

repeatedly been speaking to the commission about the need to reserve water for homelands." The water will eome from the 'Ewa-Kunia and WaipahuWaiawa aquifers and will supply the needs of all O'ahu homelands except Waimānalo whieh gets its water from windward aquifers. The commission will address Waimānalo reserved water at meetings coming up in the next

few months. DHHL chairman Hoaliku Drake testified that O'ahu had the largest Hawaiian population, that homelands needs were very real and extensive development was just around the corner. She mentioned 1000 housing units at Kapolei and 800 acres of farmland in Wai'anae as future homelands developments. "The needs are there and we are on the

fast track to get water," she added. David Martin from the Native Hawaiian Advisory Council questioned the amount allocated for homelands. He argued that it only accounted for domestic needs and did not consider the possibility that many Hawaiians might want to go into agriculture, an activity that demands a lot more water. "The reserving process does not consider agricultural needs," Martin pointed out. "They would be considerably more than the needs of single family homes." Martin also expressed eoneem about the fact that DHHL arrived at its water reservation numbers without consulting homelands residents. "We believe beneficiaries should know about water reservations and how they got the numbers," he said. The Water Commission will be hearing more recommendations for water permits over the next few months, including a submittal by the Moloka'i Working Group regarding water use on that island.

The Water Commission accepted a recommendation by Department of Land and Natural Resources that DHHL have 1 .409 million gallons per day set aside for anticipated development on O'ahu homestead lands.

Water Comissioners listen to water use recommendation at the Department of Land and Natural Resources.