Will They Ever Get It Right?
Ever since the leases for stream water from East Maui expired decades ago, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources has been challenged in court too many times to count over its issuance of revocable permits allowing ongoing withdrawal of water to irrigate Central Maui crops, with a small fraction of the diversion feeding Maui County’s Upcountry water system.
And its decision to approve another RP for 2026 has invited yet another appeal, with the board seeming to ignore instructions of the most recent court to weigh in on the subject
In other Land Board action, Lāʻie homeowners who for years failed to remove busted-up sandbags fronting their property faced nearly a quarter of a million dollar fine. That has been reduced significantly, with the board allowing them to offset the fine by the cost of removal.
Also in this issue: The DLNR loses access to Haleakalā Trail and an update on seabed mining.
