Mayor Bissen wants BLNR to hold off on contested case hearing for East Maui water

Maui Mayor Richard T. Bissen, Jr. wrote a letter to Board of Land and Natural Resources Chair Dawn Chang, urging her to hold off on a contested case hearing on the disposition of an East Maui Water License, scheduled for Friday, Nov. 8. Bissen said talks have already begun between the parties and he wants both sides to have the full opportunity to resolve the issue amicably.

In his letter, he noted that the first director of the newly created East Maui Water Authority was sworn in Wednesday before a standing room only crowd.

“Sixty-four percent of Maui’s voters requested the EMWA be formed so that Maui’s residents would finally have a seat at the table, and a voice in the decision of how our East Maui water shed is cared for and its water equitably distributed. We are mindful of our rich history of farmers of taro and other agricultural products who have had to beg and battle for this water resource,” Bissen wrote.

The decision to hold a hearing on Friday comes after BLNR agreed to remove the item from an earlier Sept. 26, 2024 agenda.

Bissen said the county wants time to negotiate a long-term solution regarding the use of this water resource. He said the decision to reschedule the item so quickly jeopardizes the countyʻs efforts to negotiate a community-wide solution.

Maui Now reached out to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources for a response to the letter on Thursday evening, but did not hear back at the time of this posting. This story may be updated later if additional information becomes available.

The mayor notes that on Oct. 23, 2024, the Intermediate Court of Appeals issued a stay, at BLNR’ s request, of the Sierra Club’s request for a contested case hearing on the matter of the issuance of the revocable permits for 2023. “It is ironic that the DLNR would ask the courts to stay a contested case hearing from 2023 only to rush a contested case hearing that no one has requested,” Bissen wrote.

“The ‘due process’ we are seeking is the opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions and to exhaust all attempts to reach a mutual agreement without the distractions, deadlines, expense, and pressures of a contested case,” Bissen wrote.

He notes that the county already agreed to maintain the status quo on the delivery and allocation of water from East Maui for another year in order to avoid interruption of services while negotiations toward a solution are underway.