hawaii – gov david ige – mayor alan arakawa – the new power brokers – land and water
TRANSCRIPT
Clif Hasegawa <[email protected]>
Acquisition of the East Maui Irrigation (EMI) System
Clif Hasegawa <[email protected]> Sat, Dec 24, 2016 at 10:00 AM
To: “Governor David Ige” <[email protected]>, "Lieutenant Governor Shan S. Tsutsui" <[email protected]>, "Senate President Ronald D. Kouchi" <[email protected]>, “House Speaker Joseph M Souki” <[email protected]>, Senator Rosalyn Baker
<[email protected]>, “Senator J Kalani English” <[email protected]>, "Senator Gilbert S.C. Keith-Agaran"
<[email protected]>, “Representative Justin H Woodson” <[email protected]>, “Representative Kaniela Ing” <[email protected]>, “Representative Lynn DeCoite” <[email protected]>, “Representative Kyle T Yamashita”
<[email protected]>, “Representative Angus McKelvey” <[email protected]>, "[email protected]"
<[email protected]>, "[email protected]" <[email protected]>, Mayor Alan Arakawa <[email protected]>, “Council Member Elle Cochran” <[email protected]>, “Council Member Riki Hokama” <[email protected]>, “Council
Member Mike White” <[email protected]>, "Council Member Michael P. Victoino" <[email protected]>, “Council
Member Don Couch” <[email protected]>, “Council Member Gladys Baisa” <[email protected]>, “Council Member Robert Carroll” <[email protected]>, “Maui Council Member Stacy Crivello” <[email protected]>, “Maui Council
Member Don Guzman” <[email protected]>
Cc: “Cindy McMillan Communications Director Office of Governor David Ige” <[email protected]>, Ross Tsukenjo Executive to the Lieutenant Govenor <[email protected]>, Flo Hamasaki Office Manager House Speaker Joseph Souki
<[email protected]>, “Grace Ishii Executive to Mayor Alan Arakawa” <[email protected]>, “Managing Director Keith
Regan” <[email protected]>, Maui Tomorrow <[email protected]>, Maui Causes <[email protected]>, “Sierra Club of Hawaii” <[email protected]>, Wendy Osher <[email protected]>, Debra Lordan <[email protected]>, Tommy
Russo <[email protected]>, “Anthony Pignataro” <[email protected]>, “Jen Russo” <[email protected]>, “Joe Bradley”
<[email protected]>, “Lee Imada” <[email protected]>, Andrew Walden <[email protected]>, “Todd Simmons Civil Beat” <[email protected]>, “Nick Grube Civil Beat” <[email protected]>
Dear Governor Ige, Lieutenant Governor Tsutsui, Senate President Kouchi, House Speaker Souki, Members of the Maui Delegation to the Hawaii Senate and House of Representatives, Members of the Hawaii Senate and House of Representatives, Mayor Alan Arakawa and the Maui County Council,
We request the State of Hawaii and County of Maui acquire the East Maui Irrigation (EMI) System.
Respectfully submitted for your consideration is our letter and attachments that detail the facts and precedent in support of our request.
Thank you very much
Aloha
Respectfully,
Electronically Signed
Clifton M. Hasegawa
President and CEO
Clifton M. Hasegawa & Associates, LLC
1322 Lower Main Street A5
Wailuku, Hawaii 96793
Telephone: (808) 244-5425
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cliftonhasegawa
Letter 12-24- 2016 - MAUI - HAWAIIAN COMMERCIAL SUGAR CO - DIVERSIFIED AGRICULTURE - WHAT IS MEANS FOR MAUI.pdf
699K
Letter to Commission on Water Resource Management - CMH 12-18-2016.pdf 290K
MAUI - A SENSE OF PLACE - LAND and WATER.pdf
296K
December 24, 2016
Dear Governor Ige, Lieutenant Governor Tsutsui, Senate President Kouchi, House Speaker Souki,
Members of the Maui Delegation to the Hawaii Senate and House of Representatives, Members of the
Hawaii Senate and House of Representatives, Mayor Alan Arakawa and the Maui County Council,
Governor Ige and the State of Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA), Agribusiness
Development Corporation (ADC) are committed to the growth and transformation from a mono crop to
diversified agriculture.
The decline of sugar since 1986 ignited the growth of diversified agriculture. [Source: ADC.
http://hdoa.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/ADC-2007-Brochure-lowres.pdf ] Hawaiian Commercial Sugar Company
(HC&S) participation in the creation and development of ADC is noteworthy. [Source: DEBDT, HDOA
http://hdoa.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/ADC-2007-Brochure-lowres.pdf] HC&S’s development of diversified
agriculture was not given commensurate attention and priority and the requisite sense of urgency. The
exhibited flurry of rehabilitative steps now being attempted by HC&S are simply too little, too late.
Mayor Arakawa’s recently announced plans to acquire Wailuku Water Company lands. This is a
clear and unequivocal statement that Maui County is willing, able and capable to take on the duties and
responsibilities of managing and operating the water systems that provide potable and non-potable water
for Maui.
On December 18, 2016 my correspondence with the Commission on Water Resource
Management (CWRM) requested the State of Hawaii acquire the East Maui Irrigation (EMI) system.
[Attached] The precedent for such acquisition was expressed in the letter from Attorney General William R.
Castle to His Excellency Wm. L. Moehonua, Minister of the Interior, dated 7 September 1876. Stated
therein,
[I]t becomes the duty of the Government to aid and foster in every
possible way the agricultural interests of the country upon which our
prosperity mainly depends.
The intent of Attorney General Castle is stated by the Hawaii Section of American Society of
Engineers,
“AG Castle justified granting the license to private parties because unlike
“the case in some of the European nations, “the Hawaiian Government
was “not prepared to engage in any such development of internal
resources” and that “[u]ntil the government is ready to undertake such
work - no obstacle should be thrown in the way of others, who are able
and ready to commence such work.””
Source: ASCE Hawaii Section. http://www.ascehawaii.org/2002.html
Web Accessed: December 24, 2016.
Attorney General Castle as a condition to the grant stated,
[T]he government may purchase the said canal, ditch or other
waterway upon payment of the actual cost thereof only, and in the
case of such purchase, will continue to furnish water to these grantees at
a just and reasonable rate not to exceed that paid by other parties taking
water from such ditch or other waterway.
[Emphasis Supplied]
____________
“The huge and complex EMI system has developed and changed over the years at a
cost of nearly $5 million.”
“The replacement cost is estimated to be at least $200 million.”
Source: Wilcox, C. Sugar Water: Hawaii’s Plantation Ditches. Honolulu: University
of Hawai`i Press, ©1996. Paperback edition 1997. ISBN 0-8248-2044-4 (pbk)
___________
We request the State of Hawaii and County of Maui acquire the East Maui Irrigation System.
Thank you very much
Aloha
Respectfully,
Clifton M. Hasegawa
President and CEO
Clifton M. Hasegawa & Associates, LLC
1322 Lower Main Street A5
Wailuku, Hawaii 96793
Telephone: (808) 244-5425
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cliftonhasegawa
Background
HAWAII SECTION OF AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ENGINEERS (ASCE)
History & Heritage 2002
May 2002: Water Use License By: C. S. Papacostas
An ASCE, Hawai'i Section committee consisting of Past Presidents Richard Cox, Dudley
Pratt, and yours truly has prepared a proposal to designate the East Maui Irrigation (EMI)
system as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
EMI was selected to be representative of the many "ditch" systems built in 19th century
Hawai'i to support the sugar industry that dramatically changed the economy of the
kingdom.
Two major ingredients were needed for the sugar industry to prosper: land and water.
As I have explained in earlier articles, a transition to private ownership of land followed the
"mahele" (i.e., "division") of 1848. This development forever changed the use of land from
the traditional system of self-sufficient ahupua'a supporting dispersed settlement to today's
dispersed ownership of land parcels. Reverberations of this fundamental change are heard in
modern controversies involving what came to be known as "ceded lands."
Water use has also had a complex and contentious history. My April 2001 article pointed
out, for example, the interplay between ancient native practices, common-law riparianism,
the concept of prior appropriation, and the 1987 State Water Code's establishment of the
public use doctrine relating to water rights.
With only a single notable exception, traditional native practice did not involve the
diversion of water away from streams and rivers. The famous "Menehune Ditch" on the
west side of Kauai, with its unusual stone lining, was the exception; some even claim that
this aqueduct anteceded the arrival of the kanaka maoli to Hawai'i.
Our nomination committee discovered a groundbreaking "Letter from Attorney General
William R. Castle to His Excellency Wm. L. Moehonua, Minister of the Interior, dated
7 September 1876."
The Attorney General's opinion addressed an application by "Messrs Castle and Cooke,
representing the Haiku Sugar Company, Alexander and Baldwin, James M. Alexander, the
Grove Ranch Plantation and Capt. Thos H. Hobron ... to take water from several streams, in
Koolau Maui, to be carried to their respective sugar plantations, for purposes of irrigation."
His understanding was that the application was not "for land, nor ... for an absolute sale
or grant of the waters... [but] for a license; the license to take and use water, conveying
the same in part over several government lands."
The opinion favored the granting of the license partly because "[t]he Reciprocity Treaty
having passed and a brighter future opening for the country, it becomes the duty of the
Government to aid and foster in every possible way the agricultural interests of the
country upon which our prosperity mainly depends."
AG Castle justified granting the license to private parties because unlike "the case in some of
the European nations,"the Hawaiian Government was "not prepared to engage in any
" and that "[u]ntil the government is ready to such development of internal resources
undertake such work - no obstacle should be thrown in the way of others, who are able
and ready to commence such work."
And thus changed the flow of history!
[Emphasis Supplied]
Source: ASCE Hawaii Section. http://www.ascehawaii.org/2002.html
Web Accessed: December 24, 2016.
_______________________________________
EAST MAUI IRRIGATION SYSTEM HONORED AS HISTORIC CIVIL
ENGINEERING LANDMARK
The East Maui Irrigation System has been designated as an ASCE National Historic Civil
Engineering Landmark. The dedication ceremony was held on February 26, 2003 at the
Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum in Puunene, Maui, Hawaii. Among the participants in
the dedication ceremony were ASCE President Thomas L. Jackson, Maui Mayor Alan
Arakawa, Maui City Council Chair Dain Kane, ASCE Hawaii Section President Horst
Brandes and ASCE Hawaii Section History and Heritage Committee member Richard Cox.
It began with the construction of the Old Hamakua Ditch built between 1876 and 1878. The
terms of the lease from King Kalakaua providing a right-of-way and water capture from
lands of the Kingdom required completion in two years. All construction was by private
enterprise. It is a tribute to the foresight of Samuel T. Alexander and Henry P. Baldwin,
sons of missionaries to Hawaii and early sugar cane growers in the then Kingdom of Hawaii.
Nine subsequent ditches were constructed by private enterprise between 1879 and 1923.
The East Maui Irrigation (EMI) System demonstrated the feasibility of transporting water
from steep tropical forested watersheds with high rainfall across difficult terrain to fertile
and dry plains. Sugar production dramatically increased with irrigation and improved
cultivation practices. Sugar yields increased from 2 tons per acre to over 13 tons per acre
grown with 2-year crop cycles.
The construction of the Old Hamakua Ditch sparked major irrigation aqueduct construction
on the Hawaiian Islands of Kauai, Oahu, Maui and Hawaii. Eventually sugar production
from these islands exceeded 1.2 million tons per year, comprising the major economic sector
of Hawaii for 100 years.
The EMI System was also the forerunner of major aqueducts in the Western United States by
the Bureau of Reclamation, irrigation districts and regional domestic supplies.
Engineer M.M. O’Shaughnessy, in charge of constructing the Koolau Ditch in 1904 and
1905, subsequently built San Francisco Hetch Hetchy water system. Other engineers
involved in Hawaii aqueducts subsequently worked on major domestic water aqueducts in
the western United States.
Today, the EMI System conveys 62 billion gallons per year from steep tropical forested
watersheds with high rainfall on the Windward side of Haleakala to the semi-arid Maui
isthmus for sugar cane cultivation. The EMI System consists of 74 miles of tunnels, ditches,
inverted siphons and flumes. The system provides for over half the irrigation requirements
for the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company plantation, a division of Alexander &
Baldwin, Inc. The plantation, with a cultivated area of 37,000 acres, is a combination of
earlier smaller plantations in the Maui isthmus. Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company
produces 230,000 tons of sugar annually and is the largest plantation in Hawaii. During the
1980’s Hawaii plantations provided one-sixth of the sugar produced in the United States and
was Hawaii’s principal economic sector for over 100 years.
The EMI System is the third National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in the State of
Hawaii. The other two landmarks are the Kamehameha V Post Office Building, dedicated in
1987, and the Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility, dedicated in 1994.
ASCE established the National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark Program in 1966 to
recognize civil engineering works that have made a significant contribution to the
development of the United States and to the profession of civil engineering. Sections and
branches may propose to the Society’s History and Heritage Committee that projects in their
area be accorded landmark status. The committee passes its recommendations to the Board
of Direction, which makes the final decision.
Participants in the EMI System dedication ceremony were ASCE Hawaii Section History
and Heritage Committee member Richard Cox; EMI employee Jackie Honokaupu;
Alexander and Baldwin, Inc. Vice-President Meredith Ching; Maui City Council Chair Dain
Kane; EMI Manager Garrett Hew; EMI employee Mark Vaught; Maui Mayor Alan
Arakawa; EMI employee Albert Honokaupu and ASCE President Thomas L. Jackson.
Source: ASCE Hawaii Section. http://archive.is/5LVd#selection-541.0-633.401
Web Accessed: December 24, 2016
____________________________________
DNLR STUDY – APPLICATION OF WATER LICENSE – EAST MAUI IRRIGATION
At the request of Garret Hew, Manager of East Maui Irrigation Company, Ltd. (EMI), Kumu
Pono Associates conducted a two-phased study of cultural-historical resources in the lands
of Hāmākua Poko, Hāmākua Loa, and Koʻolau, in the region of Maui Hikina (East Maui),
Island of Maui. The study included—conducting detailed research of historical records in
public and private collections (Volume I); and conducting oral history interviews with
individuals known to be familiar with the cultural and natural landscape, and history of land
use in the Maui Hikina study area (Volume II).
This study was conducted in conjunction with the Water License Application of the East
Maui Irrigation Company, Ltd., to the Board of Land and Natural Resources of the State of
Hawaiʻi.
The study area includes some 73 ahupuaʻa (native land divisions, generally extending from
fisheries to the mountain region) which make up the moku o loko (districts) of Hāmākua
Poko, Hāmākua Loa, and Koʻolau, Maui (Figure 1). Situated on the eastern slopes of
Haleakalā, the lands are a part of the region generally known as Maui Hikina (East Maui).
These lands comprise a large portion of the rich water producing forest of the East Maui
Watershed, which collects rains from the koʻolau or windward weather systems that prevail
upon the Hawaiian Islands.
Source: ULUKAU. http://www.ulukau.org/elib/cgi-bin/library?e=d-0maly6-000Sec--11en-
50-20-frameset-book--1-010escapewin&a=d&d=D0.3&toc=0 Web Accessed: December
24, 2016.
____________________________________
COUNTY OF MAUI TO ACQUIRE
WAILUKU WATER COMPANY
The County of Maui has begun the process to acquire a portion of Wailuku Water Company. On
Dec. 14, Mayor Alan Arakawa’s administration transmitted a budget amendment to Maui County
Council members, seeking their approval for funding to appraise property and infrastructure owned by
the Wailuku Water Company, LLC.
Should funds for the appraisal be approved, it would allow the county to begin efforts to purchase a
portion of Wailuku Water Company, in this case approximately 8,764 acres of land in the West Maui
watershed area along with its water conveyance system; the proposed acquisition price is $9.5 million.
Arakawa stated during a press conference that while there is still a long way to go towards making the
purchase a reality, the budget amendment is an important first step in returning a valuable public
resource to public hands.
Source: Process Begins For County Of Maui To Acquire Portion Of Wailuku Water Company.
By Suzanne Kayian. Maui Time. December 20, 2016. Web Accessed: December 23, 2016. http://mauitime.com/news/politics/process-begins-for-county-of-maui-to-acquire-portion-of-wailuku-water-
company/?utm_source=wysija&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Fresh+Content+MauiTime+Newsletter
Source: Maui County Water Use and Development Plan Update.
Commission on Water Resource Management Briefing. May 19, 2016.
Maui County, Department of Water Supply.
http://www.co.maui.hi.us/DocumentCenter/View/104317 Web Accessed: December 23, 2016.
HC&S TOTAL 458 mgd
Ground water 114 mgd
Surface water 344 mgd
___________________________________
WEST MAUI IRRIGATION SYSTEM
• Wailuku Agribusiness Co., Inc. (WAB)
[dba Wailuku Water Company]
• Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (A&B)
Average Delivery: 45 million gallons per day (mgd)
Total Capacity 100 mgd
[Clarification Supplied]
EAST MAUI IRRIGATION SYSTEM
The East Maui Irrigation System is owned and managed by the East Maui Irrigation Co., Ltd., a wholly
owned subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc.
The East Maui Irrigation Co. controls all surface water.
All surface water to HC&S supplied through the East Maui Irrigation System.
Ground water is controlled by HC&S (A&B).
Average Delivery: 165 million gallons per day (mgd)
Total Capacity 435 mgd
PROCESS BEGINS FOR COUNTY OF MAUI TO ACQUIRE
PORTION OF WAILUKU WATER COMPANY
December 20, 2016 by Suzanne Kayian
The County of Maui has begun the process to acquire a portion of Wailuku Water Company.
On Dec. 14, Mayor Alan Arakawa’s administration transmitted a budget amendment to Maui
County Council members, seeking their approval for funding to appraise property and
infrastructure owned by the Wailuku Water Company, LLC.
Should funds for the appraisal be approved, it would allow the county to begin efforts to
purchase a portion of Wailuku Water Company, in this case approximately 8,764 acres of land
in the West Maui watershed area along with its water conveyance system; the proposed
acquisition price is $9.5 million.
Arakawa stated during a press conference that while there is still a long way to go towards
making the purchase a reality, the budget amendment is an important first step in returning a
valuable public resource to public hands.
“We’re doing this for several reasons,” Arakawa said. “The first is to return surface water
back into the streams and rivers, the second is to return a public resource into public hands and
finally, we want to improve the efficiency and reliability of the county’s public water system.”
During the press conference, Arakawa handed over the budget amendment to Councilmember
Mike Victorino, who represents the Wailuku district. “The community has been divided for a
long time,” said Victorino. “But this proposal is something we can hopefully all finally agree
upon.”
Councilmember-elect Alika Atay, who takes over for Victorino next year, said he was
“ecstatic” to hear the news.
“I’m very hopeful,” Atay said. “We are truly serving the public by doing this by returning this
public resource to the community. I look forward to reviewing the details with the rest of the
council.”
Purchase of the property and its assets are subject to approval by Maui County Council
members, who have full authority to reject or request modifications to the acquisition
agreement.
Should council decide to approve funding for an appraisal, upon completion of the appraisal
the county intends to transmit another budget amendment for the funds to purchase and a
resolution to authorize the acquisition.
According to county officials, the day after the press conference marked 11 years from the day
Arakawa first pledged to restore water to Maui streams, as part of an Earthjustice settlement
with Maui County during his first term as mayor in 2005. Former Earthjustice attorney Kapua
Sproat, who negotiated the settlement back then, said the mayor made good on his promise.
“We have come a long way, and we still have a long way to go,” said Sproat, now an
Associate Professor at the University of Hawaii specializing in Native Hawaiian and
Environmental law. “The mayor importantly noted that this is just one step in forging a real
future for Maui after the plantation era. Similar steps need to be taken and will be in East Maui
as well.”
Source: Maui Time. December 20, 2016. Web Accessed: December 23, 2016 http://mauitime.com/news/politics/process-begins-for-county-of-maui-to-acquire-portion-of-wailuku-water-
company/?utm_source=wysija&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Fresh+Content+MauiTime+Newsletter
HC&S – DIVERSIFIED AGRICULTURE
In January, 2016, Alexander & Baldwin Inc. announced that it is transitioning out of farming
sugar and will instead pursue a diversified agricultural model for its 36,000-acre Hawaiian
Commercial & Sugar Company plantation on Maui. [Emphasis Supplied]
HC&S General Manager, Rick Volner tells Maui Now that each of the crops and projects
that are being tested for diversified agriculture have different timelines. “Some of these are
really early on in the research and development. A lot of the crops that we’re looking at for
bio-energy production, as an example, really haven’t been grown in Hawai`i in large acreages.
They may have been grown in the past in very small quantities.
We’re talking about growing these on much, much larger acres. So that research and
development may take time–it may take a few years,” said Volner.
Mae Nakahata director of agricultural research and crop control at Hawaiian Commercial &
Sugar Company discussed the company’s sorghum trial site, located on 140 acres off of the
Mokulele Highway in Central Maui. She explained that while sweet sorghum is the source of
commercially sold molasses, forage sorghum like the one planted on Maui can be grown to
feed livestock and as a source for biofuel.
“We had an earlier testing of corn and different varieties of sorghum and we felt this was the
one that had the greatest potential, so we advanced here to a 140 acre trial. The neat thing
about sorghum is that it ratoons–in other words, after planting and harvest, it will regrow by
itself.
This is the second cut and in our earlier tests we already had cut it four times and it’s holding
the yield–in fact it’s actually increasing yield, so that is really good news,” Nakahata said.
“We also had daikon radish, and we’re actually looking at it to replace tractors, to till the soil,
because the daikon grows deep and it has a very deep taproot. So it breaks up compaction
(and) it adds organic matter,” Nakahata explained.
“I think this, along with other crop rotations we are looking at would work under our
conditions, but there is a lot of work to be done. We need people to understand and be
patient. We’re trying,” she said.
Volner said that as part of the diversified agriculture plans, HC&S is also looking at an
additional agricultural park or expansion of the current ag park, which he said could be on a
much shorter timeline. He said, that once the land and infrastructure are ready, “potentially
we could have farmers on the land within a year or less.”
Source: Wendy Osher. Maui Now. Maui Sugar: End of an Era – Diversified Agriculture
Trials Underway. Posted November 11, 2016. Updated November 14, 2016.
http://mauinow.com/2016/11/11/maui-sugar-end-of-an-era-diversified-agriculture-trials-
underway/#comments Web Accessed: December 22, 2016.
___________________
HC&S – DIVERSIFIED AGRICULTURE – WATER NEEDS
The four approved holdover permits will allow Alexander and Baldwin to continue diverting
as much as 80 million gallons of water each day. To put that into perspective,
every day the entire island of O`ahu uses double that amount. [Emphasis Supplied]
Rick Volner, general manager of HC&S, says A&B does have a plan. The company hopes to
use the water for diversified agriculture, and already has trial crops in the ground.
“Keeping that green open space in Central Maui are all in the public’s best interest,” said
Volner. “We feel very strongly that we need to continue to have access to those waters so
that we can develop those future opportunities. We look forward to being able to support
and stay part of the Maui agricultural community.”
The approval of the holdover permits did come with conditions.
The Land Board said Alexander and Baldwin must agree not to
waste water, and will have to fully restore more than a dozen
diverted streams in East Maui.
[Emphasis Supplied]
Source: Molly Solomon. Hawaii Public Radio. BLNR: Alexander & Baldwin Can Continue
to Divert Maui Streams. December 12, 2016. http://hawaiipublicradio.org/post/blnr-
alexander-baldwin-can-continue-divert-maui-streams
________________________
STATE OF HAWAII AGRICULTURAL WATER USE
AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN (AWUDP) http://files.hawaii.gov/dlnr/cwrm/planning/awudp2004.pdf
“[E]stimating agricultural water demand for
diversified crop farming is simply to multiply the
acreage required by the irrigation water
application rate of 3,400 gpd/acre. [T]he amount
of water applied is based upon good farming
practices to meet only the consumptive needs for
plant growth and upon good conservation practices
encouraged by the economic cost of the water.
[T]he figure of 3,400 gpd/acre is considered to be
a practical consumptive water use rate which does
not include irrigation system water losses.”
STATE OF HAWAII AGRICULTURAL WATER USE AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN (AWUDP)
Source: State of Hawaii, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Commission on Water Resource Management.
http://files.hawaii.gov/dlnr/cwrm/planning/awudp2004.pdf Web Accessed: December 22, 2016
DETERMINING IRRIGATION WATER USE RATE (DIVERSIFIED AGRICULTURE) Pages 174 – 175. One of the most practical and effective methods of estimating agricultural water use is to measure the amount of irrigation water applied to a crop or general group of crops, such as meant by the term “diversified crops” and “diversified farming” under actual conditions of the farmed land and routines of the farmer. Contrary to past irrigation practices in Hawaii, agricultural water use is more and more being metered as irrigation system improvements are carried out and as required by system operators and the State Water Code. With the keeping of monthly records of metered water use and the corresponding acreage irrigated, sufficient data is being collected in which the rate of application of irrigation water, expressed as gallons per day per acre (gpd/ac), can be determined, especially for diversified agriculture farming. DETERMINING AGRICULTURAL ACREAGE REQUIRED. Pages 175 – 178 Based upon the goals and objective discussed in this Chapter, the additional acreage required for diversified agriculture was determined as the second step in forecasting agricultural water demand for the 20-year planning period. However, due to time constraint and limited funds, the methodology used to estimate the additional acreage required to meet Hawaii’s future diversified agriculture needs was limited to an analysis of three factors: (1) annual population projections, (2) replacing imported fresh vegetables and fruits, and (3) maintaining past growth rate of farm values. Data and information obtained from the Hawaii Agricultural Statistics annual publications and various reports by HASS and HDOA were used in developing the methodology. DETERMINING AGRICULTURAL WATER DEMAND. Pages 178 – 179 The third and final step to estimating agricultural water demand for diversified crop farming is simply to multiply the acreage required by the irrigation water application rate of 3,400 gpd/acre. It is assumed that the amount of water applied is based upon good farming practices to meet only the consumptive needs for plant growth and upon good conservation practices encouraged by the economic cost of the water. Consequently, the figure of 3,400 gpd/acre is considered to be a practical consumptive water use rate which does not include irrigation system water losses. Irrigation system water losses, which would require a comprehensive field investigation of flow measurements and analyses, have not been studied by the HDOA. [Emphasis Supplied]
Chapter 14. EAST MAUI IRRIGATION SYSTEM Pages 135 – 137 [Extract]
EXISTING CONDITIONS Ownership & Management: The East Maui Irrigation System is owned and managed by the East Maui Irrigation Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. The East Maui Irrigation Co. controlled all the surface water to HC&S supplied through the East Maui Irrigation System. Ground waters were controlled by HC&S itself. Employment: 18 full-time employees Average Delivery: 165 million gallons per day (mgd) Delivery Capacity: • Wailoa Ditch 195 mgd • New Hamakua Ditch 100 mgd • Lowrie Ditch 70 mgd • Haiku Ditch 70 mgd Total Capacity 435 mgd ASSESSMENT OF NEEDS Due to time constraints and limited funds, no assessment of the system’s needs was conducted. Future studies will include a detailed evaluation of this system, including an assessment of improvements needed. Consequently, no cost estimates for improvements or maintenance of the system were prepared for this report. The staff of employees conduct normal maintenance which consists of road and trail maintenance, ditch and tunnel cleaning, brush and tree removal, and minor repairs to stream intakes, etc. Storm damage repairs require special or urgent attention because storms usually threaten the physical integrity of system, although they occur infrequently (over a period of several years). No estimates of costs for maintenance or capital improvement were prepared for this report due to time constraints and limited funds.
___________________
Chapter 16. WEST MAUI IRRIGATION SYSTEM Pages 143 – 145 [Extract] EXISTING CONDITIONS Ownership: • Wailuku Agribusiness Co., Inc. (WAB) • Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (A&B)
Management: Wailuku Agribusiness and Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. A maintenance crew of 4 to 5 persons maintains the West Maui Irrigation System. Ditches: • Waihee—owned in fee by WAB with perpetual easements in some. sections. • Spreckels—owned in fee by WAB with perpetual easements in some sections from Waihee Stream to South Waiehu Stream. A&B owns in fee from South Waiehu Stream to HC&S reservoirs 73 and 74. Average Delivery: 45 million gallons per day (mgd) Delivery Capacity: • Waihee Ditch – 70 mgd • Spreckels Ditch – 50 mgd Total Capacity 100 mgd
ASSESSMENT OF NEEDS Due to time constraints and limited funds, no assessment of the system’s needs was conducted. Future studies will include a detailed evaluation of this system, including an assessment of improvements needed. Consequently, no cost estimates for improvements or maintenance of the system were prepared for this report.
__________________ Chapter 11. UPCOUNTRY MAUI IRRIGATION SYSTEM Pages 107 – 113 [Extract]
The system was started by Maui County in 1912 to serve the water needs of upland region of Olinda and Kula by diverting stream flows from Haipuaena, Puohokamoa, and Waikamoi Streams and their tributaries. It was originally built as a potable water system, but later developed into a dual water system to meet the needs of farms developing along the upcountry Kula region. The stream diversions consisted of inlet boxes located behind low masonry dams and the water was conveyed by pipes and flumes. At Waikamoi, the diverted flows are merged into storage created instream and offstream. These flows were then transmitted via pipeline to reservoirs at Waikamoi, Olinda, Omaopio, Alae, and numerous small capacity tanks located along the distribution pipeline route. At the twin Waikamoi Reservoirs inflows are piped from 6 streams which are located on the western side of the watershed. The total storage capacity was less than 50 MG, which was inadequate during low rainfall or high-irrigation periods. The collection system is currently operated and maintained by the Maui Department of Water Supply under agreements between the East Maui Irrigation Co. and the County of Maui. [Emphasis Supplied] ASSESSMENT OF NEEDS The assessment of needs presented be low was taken from the Upcountry Maui Watershed Final Plan prepared in 1997 by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service under the Watershed and Flood Prevention Act, Public Law 83-566. The Watershed Plan has been approved and accepted by the local project sponsors, the HDOA and the respective local Soil & Water Conservation District in which region the project is located.
The Watershed Plan has been developed to meet the Federal and Sponsors' objectives of developing viable agricultural industry by providing adequate and consistent agricultural water supply. The major concern is that the existing system cannot provide adequate supply to meet water demands during low rainfall periods. The system is unable to make optimum use of the water resources available in the region because portions of the collection system, transmission, and storage components are not adequately sized to permit capture, storage, and conservation of storm flows during abundant periods of rainfall. The existing system was built in a piece-meal fashion as both municipal and agricultural water users increased over the years, resulting in the current system. The existing system utilizes surface water sources; and, therefore, it must conform with the federal Clean Water Act, which increases the cost of providing potable water for municipal users, but unnecessarily so for agricultural users. The system’s transmission pipelines are inadequate to meet the irrigation needs of farmers on the downstream end of the system. Also, storage capacity is inadequate to meet peak irrigation demands. The Watershed Plan meets national and state objectives of developing viable agricultural businesses by providing adequate and reliable water supply for farming use. PROPOSED CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS The Upcountry Maui Irrigation System will include a total of 49,500 ft or 9.4 miles of distribution pipeline that will be installed from the Olinda Water Treatment Plant to Keokea …
HAWAIIAN COMMERCIAL & SUGAR COMPANY (HC&S)
DIVERSIFIED AGRICULTURE
WE HAVE A PLAN
WE NEED TIME - WATER - $$$$$$
November 2016
HC&S General Manager, Rick Volner tells Maui Now that each of the crops and
projects that are being tested for diversified agriculture have different timelines.
“Some of these are really early on in the research and development. A lot of the
crops that we’re looking at for bio-energy production, as an example, really haven’t
been grown in Hawai`i in large acreages. They may have been grown in the past in
very small quantities. We’re talking about growing these on much, much larger
acres. So that research and development may take time–it may take a few years,”
said Volner.
Volner said that as part of the diversified agriculture plans, HC&S is also looking at
an additional agricultural park or expansion of the current ag park, which he said
could be on a much shorter timeline. He said, that once the land and infrastructure
are ready, “potentially we could have farmers on the land within a year or less.”
[Emphasis Supplied]
Source: Wendy Osher. Maui Now. Maui Sugar: End of an Era – Diversified
Agriculture Trials Underway. Posted November 11, 2016. Updated November 14,
2016. http://mauinow.com/2016/11/11/maui-sugar-end-of-an-era-diversified-agriculture-trialsunderway/#comments
Web Accessed: December 22, 2016.
MAUI NO KA OI – MAUI IS THE BEST
We envision a HI-TECHNOLOGY AGRICULTURAL PARK for
Maui Farmers and Agriculture Related Businesses
Designed Today, Planned for Tomorrow and Growing for the Future
THE WHITMORE VILLAGE PROJECT
Designed, Planned and Advocated By
SENATOR DONOVAN DELA CRUZ http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/memberfiles/Senate/delacruz/Documents/The%20Whitmore%20Project%20(REV%2002.18.2014).pdf\
PLAN TAKES WAHIAWA BACK TO ITS ROOTS
Farming in Wahiawa is taking root again with the state initiative known as The Whitmore
Project
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
7 Dec 2014
By Andrew Gomes [email protected]
STAR-ADVERTISER / OCT. 30 1984
A state initiative aims to revitalize the town’s farming industry.
Olive. Avocado. Mango. Peach. Plum.
The street names in Wahiawa reflect the Central Oahu town’s history rooted deeply in agriculture.
Recent history, however, hasn’t been as fruitful for the community with the disappearance of sugar cane,
the fading of pineapple and hit-and-miss endeavors with diversified agriculture. Yet now an effort to
reinvigorate farming — and the town itself — appears to be taking root.
The initiative is a multipronged one by the state. It includes making agricultural fields and farm-related
industrial and retail sites around Wahiawa available for longterm lease, developing affordable housing for
farmworkers and preparing area school kids for jobs and careers in agriculture.
Known as The Whitmore Project, the plan is being implemented by the state Agribusiness Development
Corp., or ADC, after pieces were largely aligned by Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz after years of sometimes
frustrating work in the Legislature.
This is big. This is huge. This is our kids’ future.” Bryan Pang Resource teacher, state Department of
Education
“It’s about the town’s economic development,” said Dela Cruz (D, Wahiawa-Whitmore-Mililani Mauka).
“You have to develop industry.”
Dela Cruz, who was born and raised in Wahiawa, said he grew concerned with the possibility that the
town would wither after pineapple producer Del Monte Fresh Produce shut down operations in 2006.
Del Monte’s decision cost 551 employees their jobs and put 2,000 acres of prime farmland up for sale.
More recently, Dole Food Co. moved to sell 20,000 acres of largely fallow farmland in Central Oahu and
the North Shore.
The Whitmore Project’s foundation was established in 2012 when the state acquired 1,200 acres of the
former Del Monte pineapple land from the George Galbraith Trust. The purchase was made possible
largely from $13 million in state bond financing, $4.5 million from the Army, $4 million from the city
and $500,000 from developer D.R. Horton.
Then last year ADC bought two more properties: a 29,000-square-foot warehouse in Wahiawa’s
commercial core from local supermarket chain Tamura’s for $4.3 million, and a 24acre largely industrial
site next to Whitmore Village from Castle & Cooke for $3.3 million.
A fourth land deal is expected to conclude for $4.6 million by the end of this year between ADC and
Dole, which is selling 258 acres of mainly farmland along with several Dole buildings including offices
and farm equipment garages.
So far, ADC has committed about 400 acres of its farmland for lease to three large local farms:
200 acres to Larry Jefts Farms (also known as Sugarland Farms), 160 acres to Ohana Best and 50 acres to
Ho Farms.
ADC, which is improving the soil that was left with high acidity levels from pineapple farming, also has
reserved another 200 acres for another dozen or so smaller farmers.
Jimmy Nakatani, ADC’s director, said the agency received 40 to 50 responses to its request for proposals
earlier this year to lease the former Galbraith lands. “The interest was very strong,” he said.
The balance of the farmland will be made available after boundaries for the large initial farms are
established.
Some additional irrigation sources will need to be tapped to supply water to the whole site, though
Nakatani estimated there is enough water from an existing well to irrigate up to 800 acres of diversified
crops.
The industrial sites are also intended for lease so farmers can establish processing facilities that possibly
can be shared, making Wahiawa a processing and distribution hub for farms between the North Shore and
the Ewa Plain.
“In order for anything to happen it needs to be clustered,” Dela Cruz said.
Neil Ho, a principal of Ho Farms, has leased an old Meadow Gold dairy hay plant on the 24-acre
industrial site next to Whitmore Village with a plan to renovate the dilapidated warehouse into a $1.7
million processing facility with food safety certification that allows wider distribution of company
produce. A retail area that attracts consumers including tourists also is planned.
Ho said the new facility, which he expects to be finished in about 18 months, will handle produce grown
by Ho Farms in Kahuku, Ewa and Wahiawa. “It’s a perfect point,” he said. “That’s why Dole used it as a
hub.”
Wahiawa’s position as a central area for agriculture on Oahu was established with the founding of the
town in 1898 by farm families from California who named streets after fruits as well as their home state
(California Avenue).
James Dole, the founder of Dole Food predecessor Hawaiian Pineapple Co., started his pineapple empire
in Wahiawa in 1901 and built a cannery in the town in 1903.
Hawaiian Pineapple largely consolidated what had been 16 dispersed camps for its laborers into
Whitmore Village in 1947 with 120 homes, and the town continued as a centerpiece to farming for several
more decades.
Then a decline unfolded for plantation agriculture statewide. The last sugar cane plantations disappeared
on Oahu in the mid1990s, followed by a demise in pineapple farming a decade later.
Dole made attempts to diversify into other crops around Wahiawa, but not much took hold to stem the
downturn. In recent years the company put about 20,000 acres from Wahiawa to the North Shore up for
sale, excluding only about 2,700 acres on which Dole still grows pineapple and 195 acres planted in
coffee and cacao.
The future of farming around Wahiawa seemed dim enough three years ago that a University of Hawaii
College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources research station at nearby Poamoho faced the
possibility of being closed after helping farmers for more than 60 years.
UH, though a cooperative extension service, provides farmers with assistance and conducts research to
benefit the industry.
Through the Whitmore Project the state’s commitment to agriculture around Wahiawa helped reinvigorate
the 50-acre Poamoho research station, according to Jari Sugano, an extension agent at the station.
Recent and ongoing research at the station is wide ranging, though there is also a focus on developing
niche crops that can thrive in Wahiawa’s climate and soil, such as tea and blueberries.
An ongoing trial with tea is analyzing different soil acidity levels and how to best grow the plants without
pesticide. There are no big tea producers on Oahu, and the crop can be valuable, potentially generating $1
mil- lion per acre after five years.
“There’s a lot of money to be made,” Sugano said. “There’s a lot of future in agriculture.”
Added Dela Cruz, “The potential is so awesome. We could have Helemano blueberries and Wahiawa
tea.”
The state senator, whose grandfather was a truck driver for Dole, is so driven to see the Whitmore Project
succeed that he printed and hung up banner signs at the various sites, including one that reads “Whitmore
Annex” on the former Tamura’s warehouse that Dela Cruz envisions as a distribution and retail operation.
A sign outside the nearby 24-acre, largely industrial property proclaims it as the “Future Home of the
Whitmore Agribusiness Tech Park.”
Besides the banners, Dela Cruz has tried to elevate interest in and support for the project by leading about
20 tours of the different sites for various groups including school educators, state agencies and others.
Bryan Pang, a resource teacher for the state Department of Education’s Leilehua Complex of 11 public
schools, was excited by a recent tour.
“This is big,” he said. “This is huge. This is our kids’ future.”
To be sure, realizing all the pieces of the Whitmore Project vision will be challenging, as it is largely up
to ADC and other agencies to implement.
For instance, the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp., a state agency that facilitates
affordable-housing production, owns 2.6 acres of vacant residential-zoned land next to the Kemoo by the
Lake condominium on the edge of Lake Wilson. The site is identified for farmworker housing as part of
the Whitmore Project and could be developed with up to 160 residences under state affordable-housing
rules. However, the property lacks water and sewer capacity.
HHFDC signed a memorandum of understanding last year with ADC to explore housing for farmworkers
on the site.
Affordable housing will be a valuable resource if farming is to take off as envisioned in Wahiawa. For the
Ho Farms expansion alone, the company anticipates hiring 40 workers.
“It would help a lot,” Ho said of more affordable housing.
Another element of the Whitmore Project is establishing a foreign trade zone where farmers could import
and store supplies and equipment without paying customs duties until they remove the items for use.
Dela Cruz also wants to greatly expand the amount of state-owned land around Wahiawa leased to
farmers so that there is enough critical mass to support related industries like processing.
“We’re going to need more than 1,200 acres,” he said. “We need every bit of land.”
For the past two years, Dela Cruz unsuccessfully introduced bills at the Legislature to acquire the 20,000
acres of Dole land through a purchase or land swap. Next year Dela Cruz will try again, saying it needs to
be done before the opportunity is lost.
“There’s a sense of urgency that people don’t get,” he said, noting that private buyers can turn Dole
parcels into residential estates with little farming under lax state and county regulations governing
development of homes on farmland.
Nakatani said acquiring all the Dole land on the market is something the state shouldn’t pass up. “I think
it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said. “In Hawaii there’s no losing when you buy land. It’s just
how much is it going to cost us. It’s just a matter of political will and resources.”
If the Whitmore Project succeeds, Nakatani believes it could serve as a model for other rural
communities, especially on the neighbor islands, where farming has largely disappeared. “It’s a great
project,” he said.
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser. December 7, 1984. Web Accessed: December 22, 2016.
https://www.pressreader.com/usa/honolulu-star-advertiser/20141207/281479274744532
_____________________________________
State agency gets $31.5M to buy 900 acres of farmland
Pacific Business News
6 Oct 6, 2016
By Duane Shimogawa [email protected]
The state Agribusiness Development Corp. has received $31.5 million to buy nearly 900 acres of
agricultural land in Central Oahu to be used as part of the Whitmore farming project in the area, Pacific
Business News has learned.
The state agency aims to facilitate and provide direction for the transition of Hawaii’s agriculture industry
from a dominance of sugar and pineapple to one made up of a diversity of crops.
BRUCE MACGREGOR FOR MERCY CORPS NORTHWEST
The state Agribusiness Development Corp. has received $31.5 million to buy nearly 900 acres of
agricultural land in Central Oahu to be used as part of Whitmore farming project in the area.
This past session, the Legislature appropriated the funds to the ADC with state Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz,
D-Mililani Mauka, Wahiawa, Whitmore Village, being instrumental in building support for the funds to
be included in the state budget.
Gov. David Ige recently signed the release of the $31.5 million. When the acquisition is completed, these
lands, along with other parcels pending transaction, will increase the farmable acreage in the Whitmore
Project from the initial 1,200 acres to more than 2,800 acres.
Neighboring state-owned properties also include facilities in Wahiawa and former Dole Food Co. Inc.
warehouses in Whitmore Village that will be retrofitted for processing and packaging.
"Under ADC’s management, these lands will be protected in perpetuity for farming,” Dela Cruz said.
“Access to good farmland is needed to help farmers scale up their crop production, which decreases our
reliance on imported foods.”
The governor recently announced his plan to double local food production, and replacing just 10 percent
of the food Hawaii currently imports would amount to about $313 million remaining in the state.
A recent summer harvest by Sugarland Farms, a tenant of the Whitmore Project, produced an estimated
2.7 million pounds of watermelons and 750,000 pounds of bell pepper.
Other components of the Whitmore Project that have either been completed or are currently being worked
on include an agriculture foreign trade zone to defer duties on imported materials, tax incentives through
the redesignation and expansion of Enterprise Zone No. 1, creation of an agribusiness technology park to
consolidate processing and packaging facilities, construction of workforce housing for farm employees,
establishment of K-12 workforce training and reclaiming wastewater for irrigation from the Wahiawa
Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Source: Pacific Business News. 6 October 2016. Web Accessed: December 22, 2016 http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/news/2016/10/06/state-agency-gets-31-5m-to-buy-900-acres-of.html
______________________________________
Clif Hasegawa <[email protected]>
MAUI - A SENSE OF PLACE
Clif Hasegawa <[email protected]> Sun, Dec 18, 2016 at 11:21 AM
To: "Deborah L. Ward" <[email protected]>, "Burgon, Jonas D" <[email protected]>, "Ice, Charley F"
Cc: “House Speaker Joseph M Souki” <[email protected]>, Flo Hamasaki Office Manager House Speaker Joseph
Souki <[email protected]>, “Representative Justin H Woodson” <[email protected]>,
“Representative Kaniela Ing” <[email protected]>, “Representative Lynn DeCoite” <[email protected]>,
“Representative Kyle T Yamashita” <[email protected]>, “Representative Angus McKelvey”
<[email protected]>, Senator Rosalyn Baker <[email protected]>, “Senator J Kalani English”
<[email protected]>, "Senator Gilbert S.C. Keith-Agaran" <[email protected]>, Mayor Alan
Arakawa <[email protected]>, “Council Member Elle Cochran” <[email protected]>, “Council
Member Riki Hokama” <[email protected]>, “Council Member Mike White” <[email protected]>,
"Council Member Michael P. Victoino" <[email protected]>, “Council Member Don Couch”
<[email protected]>, “Council Member Gladys Baisa” <[email protected]>, “Council Member Robert
Carroll” <[email protected]>, “Maui Council Member Stacy Crivello” <[email protected]>, “Maui
Council Member Don Guzman” <[email protected]>, “Grace Ishii Executive to Mayor Alan Arakawa”
<[email protected]>, “Managing Director Keith Regan” <[email protected]>
STATE COMMISSION ON WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (CWRM) The Honorable Suzanne D. Case, Chairperson Commissioner William D. Balfour, Jr. Commissioner Kamana Beamer Commissioner Michael G. Buck Commissioner Neil Hannahs Commissioner Milton D. Pavao Commissioner Virginia Pressler Dear Chairwoman Case, Commissioner Balfour, Commissioner Beamer, Commissioner Buck, Commissioner Hannahs, Commissioner Pavao and Commissioner Pressler, Maui - A Sense of Place - Land and Water is submitted for your evaluation and determination to allocate water required for diversified agriculture operations. The ahupuaa`a (silviculture) model focuses on enhancing the natural processes associated with the forested watersheds and stream ecosystems vital to restore the “Hawaiian sense of place” and integral to Maui ahupua`a stream restoration. Respectfully, Electronically Signed Clifton M. Hasegawa President and CEO Clifton M. Hasegawa & Associates, LLC 1322 Lower Main Street A5 Wailuku, Hawaii 96793 Telephone: (808) 244-5425 Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cliftonhasegawa
MAUI - A SENSE OF PLACE - LAND and WATER.pdf
296K
`Āina (Land) and Wai (Water) are inseparable elements. Within each Moku (District) are
Ahupua`a (Land Divisions) extending from Mauka (Mountain) to Makai (Sea). Each
Ahupua`a is self-sustaining, following a river or stream, the water source, along a natural
watershed, from the mountain to the sea.
Just as the beginning of the twentieth century was a time of great change,
so change marks the end of that century. A look at the past is essential in
fact, s we step into the future. One can admire the vision and initiative of
the early sugar planters while at the same time mourning the loss of water
resources and authentic Hawaiian lifestyle. The era dominated by sugar
gives way to new times, new challenges, and new opportunities. Amon
them is a chance to manage water resources wisely for future generations.
With the contraction of the endlessly thirsty sugar industry, there is now an
opportunity to consider restoring a watershed management concept to
Hawaii – where water is managed with the context of the ahupua`a, where
a modern konohiki thinks globally, acts locally.1,2
ALEXANDER & BALDWIN (A&B)
EAST MAUI IRRIGATION (EMI) [SURFACE WATER]
HAWAIIAN COMMERCIAL & SUGAR COMPANY (HC&S) [GROUND WATER]
On 23 June 1908, Alexander & Baldwin formed the East Maui Irrigation Company. Its purpose
was to develop and administer the surface water for all the plantations owned, controlled, or
managed by Alexander & Baldwin. The EMI boundaries were from Nahiku to Maliko gulch and
included all the area where surface water was developed. West of Maliko gulch was HC&S. In that
same year, A&B gained control of Kihei Plantation.
The water source was primarily surface water runoff from a total watershed are of 56,000 acres. Of
this watershed, EMI owned 18,000 acres – the 38,000-acre balance belonged to the State of Hawaii.
The state issued four licenses, named Huelo, Honomanu, Keanae, and Nahiku, to EMI for water
arising on government land. Each license was initiated at a different time and dealt with differing
conditions. The value of water was determined by its accessibility and distance from the fields, and
the price was tied to the price of sugar. The state’s share was determined by the percentage of rain
falling on government land.
The last of the four state-issued water licenses to EMI expired in 1986.
EMI currently has four parallel levels of water development ditches, running from east to west
across the East Maui mountains. From mauka to makai these are the Wailoa, New Hamakua,
Lowrie, and New Hamakua ditches.
1 Carol Wilcox. Sugar water: Hawaii’s plantation ditches. Honolulu: University of Hawai`i Press, 1997. Print. 2 “Konohiki: Headman of an ahupua`a land division under the chief, land or fishing rights under the control of the konohiki.”
EMI’s collection system had 388 separate intakes, 24 miles of ditch, 50 miles of tunnels, and twelve
inverted siphons as well as numerous small feeders, dams, intakes, pipes and flumes.
East Maui Irrigation controlled only surface water to HC&S – ground water was controlled by
HC&S itself.
Source: Carol Wilcox. Sugar water: Hawaii’s plantation ditches. Honolulu: University of Hawai`i Press,
1997. Print.
EMI - WAILUKU WATER COMPANY (WWC)
HC&S’ sister company, East Maui Irrigation (EMI), operates a ditch system which collects surface
water (rainfall) on the east side of the island and delivers it to HC&S’ fields in Central Maui.
The West Maui ditch system collects water from the Iao, Waihee, Waiehu and Waikapu streams. It
is co-owned and operated by HC&S and Wailuku Agribusiness [Wailuku Water Company, LLC
(WWC)], originally serving Wailuku Sugar’s and HC&S’s sugar fields in Central Maui.
[Clarification Supplied]
Source: HC&S. http://hcsugar.com/keeping-maui-green/water-conservation/
Web Accessed: December 18, 2016.
AQUIFER SYSTEMS
MAUI
[PACIFIC REGIONAL INTEGRATED SCIENCES AND ASSESSMENTS (PACIFIC RISA)] http://www.pacificrisa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Maui_map.jpg
Letter from Attorney General William R. Castle to His Excellency Wm. L. Moehonua,
Minister of the Interior, dated 7 September 1876. [Extract, Emphasis Supplied]
Sir:
The application of Messers Castle and Cooke, representing the Haiku Sugar
Company, Alexander and Baldwin, James M. Alexander, the Grove Ranch
Plantation and Capt. Thos H. Hobron, dated August 21, has been placed before
me. The application requests permission to take water from several streams, in
Koolau Maui, to be carried to their respective sugar plantations, for purposes of
irrigation.
The Government will grant to Haiku Sugar Company, Alexander and
Baldwin, James M. Alexander, the Grove Ranch Plantation and Captain Thos H.
Hobron and their respective successors, heirs and assigns, the license to take
water from the streams named in the application and to carry the same over
government lands intervening between the said streams and the remotest land to
which it is now desired to carry said water, for the period of twenty years from the
date of acceptance of these terms, at an annual rent of one hundred dollars, Upon
condition 1st That a sufficient ditch, canal or other waterway shall be commenced
at once and finished in a reasonable time. 2nd That this grant shall not
interfere with the rights of the tenants upon said lands or streams. 3rd nor
shall it in any way affect the right of the government to grant to any person or
persons the right to take water (not to interfere with the water hereby granted)
from the same or other streams to be carried over the same land or lands for any
purpose whatsoever, and if need be, to be carried through the ditch, canal or
other waterway to be constructed by these grantees, provided however, that
during the said period of twenty years the supply of water, a right to take which is
hereby granted shall not be diminished by the act of the government, and 4th
That any time during said period the government may purchase the said
canal, ditch or other waterway upon payment of the actual cost thereof
only, and in the case of such purchase, will continue to furnish water to
these grantees at a just and reasonable rate not to exceed that paid by other
parties taking water from such ditch or other waterway.
I am sir most respectfully yours,
Wm R. Castle
Attorney General
Source: Carol Wilcox. Sugar water: Hawaii’s plantation ditches. Honolulu: University of Hawai`i
Press, 1997. Appendix 1: Letter from the Attorney General. (1876) Print.
SENSE OF PLACE
The land area of the major Hawaiian Islands was originally divided into districts called moku, and these
were further subdivided into ahupuaa`a. The latter encompass landscape segments from the ocean to
the mountain that served as the traditional human support systems. These life support systems were
based on three to five biological resource zones. These were the upland/inland forest zone, or the wao
nahele, the agricultural zone, or the wao kanaka, and the coastal zone, or the kaha kai. This latter zone
included the strand area, fringing reefs, sea grass beds, lagoons, fish ponds, and estuaries, where present.
Actually, estuaries, the muliwai, are mostly on the windward side of the islands and are part of a fourth
biological resource zone, the kaha wai or freshwater ecosystems and streams. The ocean (kai), near the
shore can be considered the fifth biological resource zone. Thus, the traditional land use was based on
the vertical arrangement of a volcanic high island’s natural ecosystems. This vertical arrangement allowed
for maximizing the use of biodiversity over short distances and acknowledged the interactive influences
of the biological resource and production zones. This interactive influence begins at the top, in the wao
nahele. What happens there influences the three other production zones. Therefore, any ahupuaa`a
restoration that aims at the reintroduction of adaptive and integrative management should start with
silvicultural research at an operational scale. Silviculture is concerned with the care of forests. It is based
on knowledge gained from research in forest ecology and should be a form of “low input management”.
With regard to the ahupuaa`a model, silviculture must focus on enhancing the natural processes
associated with the function of the forested watershed and stream ecosystem. Silviculture should also aim
at restoring a “Hawaiian sense of place” in those ahupua`a selected for stream restoration.
Source: The Hawaiian Ahupua`a Land Use System: Its Biological Resource Zones and the Challenge for
Silvicultural Restoration. By Dieter Mueller-Dombois, Department of Botany, University of Hawai`i at
Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawai`i. Bishop Museum Bulletin in Cultural and Environmental Studies 3 (2007).
http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pubs-online/strm/04-Mueller-Domboisr.pdf Web Accessed: December
18, 2016
HAWAIIAN LAND DIVISIONS
MAUI
[EA O KA AINA]
http://www.islandbreath.org/mokupuni/mokupuni.html