One year after the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i submitted a petition to establish meaningful instream flow standards for Huelo, the Water Commission is finally on the cusp of taking action, and mandating minimum stream flows and baseline protections for the waters and watersheds of the region.
Tmrw, Tuesday, the Commission will review a draft recommendation on stream flow restoration based on years of research and months of extensive discussion. This could be the final step before the Commission formally acts on our petition, and protects the Huelo streams for the first time in its existence.
We have only come this far because of your continued and steadfast support, and we need you to help us see this through! Please take a moment to submit testimony to remind the Water Commission that we are counting on them to do right by East Maui’s streams, and the Public Trust Doctrine they have taken an oath to uphold.
Kōlea, Punalu‘u, Ka‘aiea, ‘O‘opuola, Puehu, Naʻiliʻilihaele, Kailua, Hanawana, Hoalua, Waipi‘o, Mokupapa, and Ho‘olawa - four decades after the State Water Code was enacted, these and too many other streams throughout our islands continue to suffer from a lack of meaningful minimum stream flows necessary to provide for the native plants, animals, aquifers, and communities that depend on them.
While we have been making unprecedented progress in our fight for stream justice, we are still up against some of the most powerful entities in Hawai‘i, who have been fighting tooth and nail against efforts to reduce their control and rampant waste of East Maui’s water for their corporate convenience. Please help speak for these streams - your voice will be critical to the success of this historic effort.
Please submit written testimony and testify via Zoom on Tuesday, September 20 to lend your voice to the streams and ecosystems of East Maui that have been neglected for far too long. Email raeann.p.hyatt@hawaii.gov for requests to testify live via Zoom or to submit your written testimony. Include your: Name, email address, agenda item (C-1).
Online via Zoom / Meeting ID: 865 1822 6020 / passcode: 697583
*Note: The meeting starts at 9:00 a.m., but live testimony is taken as each agenda item is discussed, and this topic is the 7th agenda item