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A state board has rejected a proposal to hold a public auction for a 30-year license to divert and use irrigation water from East Maui streams.
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources voted unanimously against the proposal, which would have allowed for the diversion of up to 88 million gallons of water per day. Opponents said landowner Mahi Pono was the entity most likely to obtain the license.
The board's action also rejected its staff recommendation for a proposed separate water license for Maui County and authorization for the board chairperson to negotiate an agreement governing the operation, maintenance and monitoring of the East Maui Irrigation system.
In a separate vote, the board unanimously authorized the next steps in a court-ordered contested-case hearing involving the revocable permit currently allowing Mahi Pono and East Maui Irrigation Co. to divert water from East Maui streams.
Mahi Pono, which is owned by a Canadian-based pension fund, purchased 41,000 acres of land from Alexander & Baldwin in 2018 and obtained a full interest in the East Maui Irrigation system in 2025.
The proposal to hold an auction was opposed by Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen, who has favored public control of the water by the East Maui Water Authority, an entity established by a Maui Charter Amendment approved by 64% of Maui County voters.
"Our people called for a meaningful voice in the stewardship of our own water resources, and through their vote, they secured that right," Bissen said.
The hearing took place at the Kalanimoku Building in Honolulu. Maui residents could watch and testify from a satellite feed at the J. Walter Cameron Center in Wailuku. The public comments went on for hours.
Bissen said decisions about the people of Maui's future need to be made in their long-term interest. "Here, we feel like we are not as included in this decision-making over how water is used," he said.
Bissen said it's good for the community to have plants in the ground, large agricultural groups are "a positive" and they certainly need water. However, he raised questions about the amount requested by Mahi Pono.
Kyle Nakanelua, a taro farmer and chair of the East Maui Water Authority board, also opposed the staff proposal. He said that before auctioning a license allowing the diversion of up to 88 million gallons per day for 30 years, officials need to determine how much water is actually needed and how Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices will be protected.
"There is simply no need to rush to make that decision today," Kahele said.
Opposition to Mahi Pono's position was also supported by Kyle Nakanelua, a taro farmer and chair of the East Maui Water Authority. Nakanelua said he opposed issuing any license to Mahi Pono, whose fiduciary duties are to beneficiaries of a pension fund and not the citizens of Maui County and Hawaii. He said that because of this proposal, water rights in the area are in a "perilous situation."
"It is not proper to come for these waters on these lands," he said.
Mahealani Perez-Wendt, an East Maui resident and former executive director of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, said she's against Mahi Pono's control of trust resources.
"I'm hoping the board will stand with the people," Perez-Wendt said.
Kelly King, a former Maui County Council member and co-founder of Pacific Biodiesel, said she believes the people at East Maui Water Authority are capable of operating the East Maui water system.
"A lot of people in this room feel a little bit slighted because we're being told we're not able to manage this on our own," King said. "I'm here to tell you there are great people in this county. We keep hearing that water is a public trust. We need you to trust the public."
King said the board should keep in mind that profits from Mahi Pono do not stay on Maui.
Calvert Chipchase IV, the attorney representing Mahi Pono, said the staff's recommendation is a very common structure in agriculture.
"If you looked at how the staff structured the recommendation, Mahi Pono would not be in a position of selling water to the county or supplying water as a licensee of the full allotment," he said. "The county would have its own license for the water that it uses, and so Mahi Pono would be in a position under its license of only being the licensee of the water it uses."
Chipchase said under the staff proposal, the board chair would be able to negotiate the relationship between the county and Mahi Pono under those licenses.
John Miyabuchi, the regional vice president of Armstrong Produce, supported the efforts of Mahi Pono and stressed the need to reduce the dependence on imported goods.
"Mahi Pono has become an increasingly important producer of locally grown food for our state," he said.
Wayne Tanaka, executive director of the Sierra Club of Hawaii, said there needs to be separate studies of stream flows.
Tanaka, interviewed later, said more study needs to be done on the water waste, the actual water needs of Central Maui, impacts to traditional and customary practices, and maintaining the health of watersheds and streams.
The state Commission on Water Resource Management retains the authority over instream-flow standards, stream diversions, Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices and other public trust uses.