Hui o Nā Wai ‘Ehā, 2019

Hui o Nā Wai ‘Ehā, 2019

Kaulana Nā Wai ‘Ehā: famous are “The Four Waters” of Waihe‘e, Waiehu, Wailuku, and Waikapū! The Nā Wai ‘Ehā region in central Maui was the island’s historical epicenter, supporting the largest continuous region of wetland kalo cultivation in all Hawai‘i nei. This land then became ground zero for the arrival of the plantations and their taking of stream and ‘auwai flows as private property. The arc of history came full circle in 2004, when Hui o Nā Wai ‘Ehā and Maui Tomorrow Foundation took legal action to restore streamflows and stop the illegal hoarding of water by Wailuku Water Company (formerly Wailuku Sugar) and Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar.

Children learn to harvest kalo while standing in a loi of mature kalo plants

Hui President Hōkūao Pellegrino

The case went all the way to the Hawai‘i Supreme Court, which in 2012 overturned the Water Commission’s 2008 decision to leave the streams mostly dry. A historic settlement in 2014 restored flows in all four streams for the first time in 150 years, but the work didn’t stop there. The HC&S plantation’s closure in 2016 and the first-ever permitting process for surface water led to the most comprehensive adjudication of water rights in Hawai‘i’s history.

Muddy children show off harvested kalo that is as tall as they are

Ho‘oana Farm in Waikapū

The commission’s latest decision in 2021 was a next step in restoring the priorities for the public trust and Native Hawaiian rights, but the fight to uphold these priorities is continuing in another appeal to the Hawai‘i Supreme Court.

 

Nā Wai ‘Ehā: A History of Water and the Law

Perhaps no other place in Hawai‘i reflects the historical arc of water and law as fully as Nā Wai ‘Ehā. It is here where water went from being recognized as a public trust under Hawaiian custom, to treated as private property by the plantations, to restored as a public trust through relentless and still-ongoing legal battles.

  • Pre-Māhele:

    Nā Wai ‘Ehā is the political and cultural center of Maui, the largest continuous area of kalo cultivation in all Hawai‘i nei.

  • 1924

    A two-decade legal battle between Wailuku Sugar and HC&S ends in an agreement in which the companies split control over Nā Wai ‘Ehā streamflows among themselves, while recognizing priority traditional (kuleana) water rights.

  • Mid-19th & Early 20th century

    The two major plantations in Nā Wai ‘Ehā are founded:  Wailuku Sugar plantation in 1862, and Hawaiian Commercial Sugar (HC&S) in 1882.  The plantations build two main ditch systems:  Spreckels Ditch in 1882, and Waihe‘e Ditch in 1907.

  • 1988

    The former Wailuku Sugar plantation, renamed Wailuku Agribusiness, ends sugar cultivation, selling its “excess” Nā Wai ‘Ehā stream water to the HC&S plantation under “temporary” deals.