Aloha e Governor Green,
The undersigned organizations respectfully request the timely and appropriate appointment of a new Water Commissioner to satisfy the legal requirement that one member of the Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM) have substantial experience or expertise in Native Hawaiian water resource management techniques and traditional Hawaiian riparian usage.
The Water Commission is one of our most important regulatory bodies. Our water resources have always been, and will continue to be, vitally important to life as we know it on our islands. CWRM’s task of protecting and overseeing the just and rightful sharing of our precious wai, after generations of corporate monopolization and military contamination, is one of the most important responsibilities of the state. We appreciate that your recent deputy director appointee, Ciara Kahahane, has professional and lived experiences that can inform her understanding of the importance of our islands’ unique cultural and historical contexts to the work of the Commission. We have not, however, forgotten the mistreatment that the most recent Native Hawaiian deputy director, Kaleo Manuel, received from this administration following the most tragic disaster in modern Hawaiʻi history. We look forward to supporting Ciara as she familiarizes herself with the complex water management challenges and opportunities that will present themselves in the months and years ahead.
Nevertheless, we want to express our concern regarding the ongoing absence of a practitioner in this vital seat on the Commission, also known as the “loea” seat. This loea seat is required by law and is critical to ensure that water management decisions recognize and protect the unique rights of Kanaka Maoli enshrined in Hawaiʻi’s constitution, as well as the value of culturally-grounded water and land stewardship to our islands’ sustainability, self-sufficiency, and climate resiliency.
To fulfill the spirit and purpose of this law, we strongly believe this seat should be filled by someone who is familiar with the Native Hawaiian community’s long-standing water struggles and how the historical deprivation of Hawaiian water rights has perpetuated generational trauma within the lāhui and has compromised our islands’ water, food, housing, and climate security.
We understand that multiple highly qualified individuals were nominated for potential appointment to this seat by the nominating committee in February of this year, but none were appointed by your office. Most recently, we have been informed that your office is now re-starting the nomination process. We also understand that the departure of former Commissioner Neil Hannahs has left the Commission without a loea since July.
Thus, we strongly urge you to take the following actions to ensure the timely and appropriate fulfillment of the Water Code’s legal mandate that at least one CWRM Commissioner possess substantial experience or expertise in Native Hawaiian water management and riparian usage:
1) Select one of the remaining, highly qualified applicants presented by the nominating committee in February of this year; or
2) If the nominating process must be restarted, ensure that members of the nominating committee themselves possess sufficient knowledge of Native Hawaiian water rights and practices, either through personal knowledge or a presentation from water policy experts, to adequately assess whether applicants for this loea seat meet the letter and spirit of the statutory requirements for this appointment; and
3) Solicit advice from community leaders and organizations to ensure that any potential appointee has the deepest commitment and ability to fulfill the responsibilities of the Water Commission and the purpose of the loea seat.
Ensuring a member with a Native Hawaiian water management and riparian usage lens is critical to ensuring that the Commission is able to uphold its kuleana as “Ke Kahuwai Pono,” and provide the best possible chance for a thriving Hawaiʻi nei now, and for the foreseeable future.
Mahalo nui for your consideration of this request.
Ola i ka wai,
ACLU Hawaiʻi
Aloha ʻĀina Economic Futures
Aloha ʻĀina Legal Group
Archie Kalepa, Kahoma Valley
Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs
Boys & Girls Club of Hawaiʻi
Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi
Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands
Earthjustice
ʻEkolu Mea NuiEnvironmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi
Environmental Justice Club at UH Mānoa
Hale Mua o Kūali‘i
Hanalei Watershed Hui
Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action
Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance Foundation
Hawaiʻi Forest Institute
Hawaiʻi Land Trust
Hawaiʻi Public Health Association
Hawaiʻi Community Lending
Hoʻōla Hou iā Kalauao
Hui Aloha Kīholo
Hui Hoʻomalu o ka ʻĀina
Hui o Nā Wai ʻEhā
ʻAha Kāne
ʻAha Pūnana Leo
ʻAhahui O Hawaiʻi Advocates for Native Hawaiian Justice
ʻAhahui o na Kauka
I Ola Wailuanui
KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance
Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi
Ka Lei Maile Aliʻi
Kamāwaelualani
Kanaeokana
Kapuna Farms, LLC
Keʻeaumoku Kapu, Kauaʻula Valley
Kim Coco Fund for Justice of the Iwamoto Family Foundation
King Kamehameha Hawaiian Civic Club
Koʻolaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club
Kōkua Kalihi Valley
Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo
Kūlaniākea
Kūpuna for the Moʻopuna
Lāhainā Strong
Lauren and Charlie Palakiko, Kauaʻula Valley
Life of the Land
Mālama Ma ākua
Maui Tomorrow Foundation
Medical Legal Partnership for Children
Nā KiaʻiNā Kiaʻi Kai
Nā Leo Kākoʻo O Maui, Inc.
Nā Mamo Aloha ʻĀina o Honokōhau
Nā Moku Aupuni o Koʻolau Hui
Native Hawaiian Education Council
Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation
Native Stories
Office of Hawaiian Affairs
Our Revolution Hawaiʻi
Papa Ola Lōkahi
Partners in Development Foundation
Pōʻai ke Aloha ʻĀina
Pōʻai Wai Ola
Pono Legal
Pouhana O Nā Wāhine
Purple Maiʻa
Shimanchu Wai Protectors
Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi
Surfrider Hawaiʻi Region
Waiʻanae Moku Kūpuna Council
Water Protector Legal Collective
Wisdom Circles Oceania
350Hawaii