Final EIS for Proposed A&B Water Lease Withdrawn Citing “Typographical Errors”

Today, Alexander & Baldwin and East Maui Irrigation Company, Limited, withdrew its Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the proposed water lease for the Nāhiku, Keʻanae, Honomanū, and Huelo License Areas previously filed with both the DLNR Land Division and the State of Hawai‘i Environmental Review Program.  

The reason provided for the withdrawal was that certain production-related (printing) errors and typographical errors occurred during finalization of the FEIS document. Upon completion of the appropriate revisions, the corrected FEIS will be refiled. 

Upon refiling, the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR), has thirty days from the date of re-submission to issue a determination on the acceptability of the FEIS.  

This news comes on the heels of a recent ruling in which the Environmental Court temporarily limited the amount of water that Alexander & Baldwin and East Maui Irrigation can take from East Maui to an average of about 25 million gallons of water per day. The court authorized the reduced diversion while a contested case hearing is conducted.

Prior to the reduction, in November of 2020, the Board of Land and Natural Resources had authorized Alexander & Baldwin and Mahi Pono, through their shared corporation called East Maui Irrigation Company, to continue diverting up to 45 million gallons of water daily from dozens of east Maui’s streams. The Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi argued that the companies did not offer evidence to support the need to continue its take of water at such levels.