The Hawai‘i Commission on Water Resources Management (CWRM) has approved a permit request from the Hawai‘i Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) to allocate a half-million gallons of water per day (.595 mgd) to supply new and existing uses of Hawaiian Home Lands on Moloka‘i. 

In 1993, DHHL filed a water user permit application for a half million gallons of potable water from two wells. Earlier that same year Moloka‘i Irrigation System and Moloka‘i Ranch and the Maui Department of Water Supply had filed competing applications for water from the Kualapu‘u Aquifer System Area. Until yesterday’s ruling by the Commission, the water rights for this aquifer had been litigated for thirty years. 

CWRM Deputy Kaleo Manuel noted, “The commission previously reserved nearly three million gallons per day (2.905 mgd) to DHHL. Portions of the water approved will be deducted from that reservation.” 

DHHL asked the Commission to approve conditions in its water use permit application to protect traditional and customary rights. 

• Work to implement community-led efforts to replace invasive species with native species to try to improve the health of the coastal ecosystem 

• Support and encourage efforts to reduce erosion and restore native vegetation in Kalama‘ula’s mauka areas 

• Make available certain Community Use designated areas as outdoor classrooms for schoolchildren, particularly for the perpetuation of traditional and customary groundwater dependent practices and resource management. 

DHHL had conducted extensive research into the potential for cultural impacts, including interviews with selected practitioners. 

Moloka‘i homesteader Glenn Teves commented, “As DHHL Chair William Aila stated in his testimony, the long delay in awarding water to DHHL has caused suffering among homesteaders on Moloka‘i. Yesterday’s vote is a meaningful step towards addressing that history.”

The Commission will consider complete water use permit applications from Maui Department of Water Supply and Molokai Properties Ltd. (aka Molokai Ranch) at a future Commission meeting.

Hawaiian Homes Commission Chair William J. Ailā, Jr. has issued a statement on the Commission on Water Resource Management’s unanimous decision to accept the Department of Hawaiian Home Land’s (DHHL) Water Use Permit Application, which increases the Department’s Hoʻolehua Water System pumping allocation to 595,000 gallons per day.

“We are grateful for the Water Commission’s unanimous approval of our permit and their renewed acknowledgment that our water rights are a protected Public Trust use of water. This action will allow us to bring water to existing and new homesteaders while maintaining deliveries to critical island services that benefit all residents. We thank the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the many beneficiaries for their supportive testimony. While long-awaited, this effort clears one of the many barriers the Department has faced in developing new homestead lots on Molokaʻi.”

DHHL is currently a year into a two year, $37 million capital improvement project to upgrade the 80-year-old Hoʻolehua Water System. Enhancements to the system will include the installation of a 200,000-gallon storage tank, upgrades to automation systems, a new warehouse, and a new emergency generator diesel fuel tank. Other improvements involve new paved roads and fencing, along with the repair and replacement of existing tanks, pumps, transmission mains, laterals, valves, and hydrants.

The Hoʻolehua Water System serves over 2,400 customers, including approximately 500 homesteads in Hoʻolehua-Palaʻau, Kalamaʻula, and Moʻomomi. Water from this system also provides service to the post office, schools, and the airport.

The Department maintains four water systems statewide. Those water service areas are in Anahola, Kauaʻi; Hoʻolehua and Kalamaʻula, Molokaʻi; and Kawaihae and Puʻukapu, Hawaiʻi Island.