Pressure mounts for Gov. Green to prove he supports Native Hawaiian water rights

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaiian rights groups are putting more pressure on Governor Josh Green to prove he supports Native Hawaiian water rights and restoration of natural streams. 

On Monday, he got a letter from more than 70 groups and individuals demanding that he immediately appoint an expert on traditional water use to the state water commission.

Some say the delay is causing more distrust in the Hawaiian community.

The pressure is increasing because the Commission on Water Resource Management literally decides how much water a commercial developer or a tiny taro farm will get.

By law, one commissioner has to be an expert in traditional practices, which are supposed to be among the highest priorities.

The week of the Maui fires was also the deadline for hundreds of requests for water permits from the commission – many requests in West Maui pit traditional taro farmers against big landowners and developers.

Not a single one has been approved, and the commission hasn’t had the required expert on traditional uses since June.

Hawaiian Studies Professor Kamanamaikalani Beamer said filling the vacancy is urgent and good for all parties.

“If they’re adjudicating and making decisions without this critical seat, they may miss, you know, critical areas, and they may face litigation in the future as a board,” he said. “So, it’s really in everyone’s best interest to follow the state Constitution.

Activists say Governor Green received a list of four candidates from a selection committee in February. At some point, two dropped out, so in August, the commission posted a notice that the process would start again from the beginning.

Water rights advocates say that’s unnecessary because the two remaining candidates are qualified experts.

That’s why a letter signed by 74 people and groups – including OHA and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement,  is demanding that the governor just choose already.”

Two experts remain on that list. And you know, given the multitude of issues that Hawaii faces around water, we need to have that seat filled immediately and as quickly as possible,” Beamer said.

The letter says, “…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.”

The broad support for the appointment is also fueled by distrust, according to Earthjustice Attorney Leinaala Ley, who said in recent weeks, the administration has not answered basic questions about the process, like when nominees withdrew and why an appointment wasn’t made in time for confirmation by the legislature.

“If you know that information isn’t shared, then it really contributes to this atmosphere of distrust and feeling that the administration has not been supportive of native Hawaiian communities, traditional and customary practitioners, and really even the larger West Maui community that’s facing a lot of water challenges right now,” Ley said.

Distrust for many advocates peaked when the administration temporarily removed Water Commission Deputy Director Kaleo Manuel over false claims he denied water to fight fires. The governor hugged Manuel at the CNHA Hawaiian Convention earlier in September, followed by an apology at the start of the governor’s address.

“We hurt Kaleo deeply, and I feel a great sadness that I was part of that,” he said.

“I humbly apologize for those moments because we are not going to be perfect…I acknowledge I will never be perfect.”The letter delivered Monday implied that the apology did not end the issue.

“We have not, however, forgotten the mistreatment that the most recent Native Hawaiian deputy director, Kaleo Manuel, received from this administration.”

Ley said it appears to many that the delay in appointing someone who could push the commission more towards the needs of traditional users is to allow the administration to shop for nominees.

“It really raises all those concerns of is this process being manipulated,” she said. “Is the administration waiting to get names that, for whatever reason, it finds more politically palatable?  So, transparency could really go, you know, a long way in rebuilding community trust.”

State DLNR Chair Dawn Chang, who also chairs the water commission, told the commission two weeks ago that the law says the governor should be sent a list of at least three candidates by the selection committee and that the governor had an “inadequate” number of names before him.

She said the two remaining from the original list of four can still apply. She encouraged activists to use the “coconut wireless” to drum up more candidates before the Oct. 11 application deadline. 

The governor’s office didn’t directly respond to questions about why the appointment was delayed or when the prior applicants dropped out.

The quote provided by the governor’s office said, “The Governor welcomes Native Hawaiian water rights advocates to apply for the practitioner seat on the water commission.”

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