Hawaiʻi State Department of Land and Natural Resources names interim water deputy

Dean Uyeno, a 25-year-long staffer with the Commission on Water Resource Management, has been assigned on a temporary basis as the interim Water Deputy with the Hawaiʻi State Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Uyeno began in the planning branch of water resource management and now serves as hydrologic program manager for the stream protection and management branch.

“Dean is uniquely qualified to lead CWRM at this time and he is highly respected by staff and stakeholders,” said Dawn Chang, chair of the Department of Land and Natural Resources. “I’ve appreciated Dean’s willingness to serve in this capacity to ensure that CWRM continues to oversee the management of the State’s public trust water resources.”

Just three days earlier on Aug. 16, DLNR re-deployed First Deputy of the Commission on Water Resource Management, Kaleo Manuel, to a different DLNR division. “The purpose of this deployment is to permit CWRM and the Department to focus on the necessary work to assist the people of Maui recover from the devastation of wildfires,” department officials said.

“This deployment does not suggest that First Deputy Manuel did anything wrong. DLNR encourages the media and the public to avoid making judgments until all the facts are known,” according to a media release. This came following accusations raised in a Civil Beat article published the day before.