At a Commission of Water Resources Management meeting on Tuesday, hundreds of people submitted testimony expressing their anger over the removal of Kaleo Manuel as the Deputy Director of the Water Commission, according to an Earthjustice news release.
Lahaina residents and their supporters submitted 277 written pieces of testimony and delivered more than five hours of verbal testimony.
Department of Land and Natural Resources Chair Dawn Chang, who is also the chair of the Commission on Water Resource Management, reassigned Manuel on Aug. 16 to a different DLNR division — a week after the Maui wildfires destroyed Lahaina.
In a statement from DLNR regarding the “re-deploying” of Manuel, the agency said changing his job “does not suggest that First Deputy Manuel did anything wrong.”
Manuel’s reassignment followed a request made on Aug. 8 by the West Maui Land Co. executive Glenn Tremble to the former Deputy Director to divert water from streams in order to fill the company’s reservoirs with water to fight the Maui wildfires. After about five hours, the request was granted, but by then, the fires had burned through Lahaina. Community activists said the rerouting of the water would not have helped fight the fires, because none of West Maui Land Company’s reservoirs are connected to fire hydrants and the fire department couldn’t pick up water from reservoirs since helicopters weren’t flying due to strong winds.
“Chair Chang had no reason or authority to remove Kaleo Manuel as Deputy Director of the Water Commission,” said Elena Bryant, Associate Attorney at the Mid-Pacific Office of Earthjustice. “That is why we support the Commissioners calling for him to be reinstated as soon as possible and before the next meeting of the Commission in October.”
Maui attorney Lance Collins filed a lawsuit a month ago asserting Manuel was illegally reassigned. A summary judgment is set for November.
Tuesday’s testifiers were also upset that Chang granted a request from West Maui Land Company to divert more water after the fire.
Two days after the Lahaina fire, Tremble wrote again to the Commission. He made three requests, asking to fill the reservoirs when a fire has been reported in the area; asking to suspend the stream flow minimums until the emergency period has ended; and asking to start proceedings to amend instream flow standards to provide more water for fire suppression.
Chang replied the same day, granting all three of Tremble’s requests. She cited Hawaii Gov. Josh Green's emergency proclamation that suspended the State Water Code and her authority as chair of the CWRM.
On Aug. 21, Collins wrote a letter to Chang saying she did not have the authority to unilaterally grant West Maui Land Company's requests — even with the suspension of the State Water Code. However, Green lifted the suspension of the state Water Code on Sept. 8.
“Dawn Chang did not respond to our letter, but the governor did revoke all suspensions so it at least resolved the issues as a practical matter,” said Collins in an email to Spectrum News Hawaii. He added that the lawsuit related to Manuel’s reassignment will address the broader issues regarding the limits of Chang’s powers on the CWRM.
The fight over Maui’s water stems back to the late 1800s when sugar plantations diverted streams. In more recent years, the Commission has limited the amount of water West Maui Land Co. could take from streams in West Maui, which are also used by kalo farmers. However, private water companies still control 75% of freshwater resources in West Maui, according to Earthjustice.
Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.