Water rights achievements to be recognized at ‘Buy Back the Beach’ Lūʻau, Jan. 24

Hawai‘i Land Trust (HILT), Hawai‘i’s local statewide nonprofit land trust that protects, stewards, and cultivates reciprocal relationships between people and ʻāina that sustain Hawai‘i, will honor D. Kapua‘ala Sproat, Director of the Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law and Professor of Law at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law, and Isaac Moriwake, Managing Attorney of the Mid-Pacific Office of Earthjustice, at its 24th-annual Buy Back the Beach benefit lūʻau from 5-9 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at the Old Lāhainā Lū‘au on Maui.

Each year at the event, Hawai‘i Land Trust recognizes people or organizations that have made a substantial impact on the health of Hawaiʻi’s lands and communities with its Champion of the Land award. Sproat and Moriwake’s landmark legal work has helped protect water resources and Native Hawaiian water rights across Hawai‘i Pae ‘Āina.

On Maui, their work on the Nā Wai ʻEhā case spanning over two decades has enabled the ongoing restoration of the Kapoho Loko I‘a Kalo at HILT’s Waihe‘e Coastal Dunes & Wetlands Refuge, along with other native habitat and traditional and customary practices from Waikapū to Waiheʻe. The success of the Nā Wai ʻEhā case to restore stream flows and water rights on Maui has provided a powerful legal and community precedent for other water restoration cases across the islands, clearing the way for other communities to seek similar protections for their local water resources. 

“Both Kapua and Isaac have worked tirelessly to uphold water rights for the benefit of the ʻāina and people of Maui,” said Scott Fisher, Ph.D., Director of ‘Āina Stewardship at Hawai‘i Land Trust. “Their tenacity and dedication have resulted in a more just and equitable sharing of the water, making Maui more sustainable and resilient as we face an uncertain climate future.”

Sproat joined the William S. Richardson School of Law in 2007 as an Assistant Professor with Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law and the Environmental Law Program. She currently teaches courses in Native Hawaiian and environmental law, and legal research and writing. She is also the Co-Director of the Native Hawaiian Rights Clinic.

Sproat previously served for almost a decade as an attorney in Earthjustice’s Mid-Pacific Office. She has worked to preserve the resources necessary to perpetuate Native Hawaiian culture by litigating state and federal cases under the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, State Water Code, and various Hawai‘i environmental laws. She was born and raised on Kaua‘i’s North Shore in Kalihiwai.

In 2019, Moriwake was named Managing Attorney of the Mid-Pacific Office of Earthjustice, a national public-interest law firm that has served Hawai‘i and the greater Pacific region for almost four decades. His 25 years of legal practice includes litigation and advocacy before state and federal courts and agencies on a range of issues including water, climate, and environmental justice. Born and raised on O‘ahu, he graduated from the William S. Richardson School of Law and clerked for Justice Paula A. Nakayama of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court.

Notable cases Moriwake has handled include the Nā Wai ‘Ehā case and the Navahine youth climate case to decarbonize the state transportation system, both of which featured constitutional environmental rights. He is a Lecturer in Law at the William S. Richardson School of Law.

Buy Back the Beach is an island-style sunset pā‘ina that includes delicious cuisine, cocktails, auction items, and live entertainment. The event helps raise vital operational support for Hawai‘i Land Trust’s mission to protect, steward, and cultivate reciprocal relationships between people and ʻāina that sustain Hawai‘i.

Tables, individual tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available by visiting hilt.org/events/buy-back-the-beach-2026. Early-bird pricing is available until Dec. 1, 2025.