Commission on Water Resource Management

Gov. Josh Green has appointed Ciara Kahahane to be the commission’s second-in-command to state Department of Land and Natural Resources Chair Dawn Chang.

Disagreement between the two chambers centers on concerns raised by the state attorney general’s office that the amendment to include the Water Commission is not relevant to the original bill.

Nearly two dozen students from Hawaiian immersion schools on Maui have traveled to the state Capitol multiple times this legislative session with a simple message. The high court’s unanimous decision found the state attorney general's office made false statements to try to exploit the Maui wildfires to advance its own interests.

The Commission on Water Resource Management is revisiting the amount of water it allows to be diverted from streams in Waikoloa on Hawaiʻi Island. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi has the story.

A bill that would allow the state Commission on Water Resource Management to hire its own legal counsel is receiving pushback from the state’s largest law firm: the attorney general’s office. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi explains.

Following the August fires in West Maui, a key issue remains the ongoing struggle for water rights. A proposal currently advancing in the Legislature aims to strengthen the state Water Code and safeguard the Commission on Water Resource Management from outside influence. HPR’s Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports.

Kaleo Manuel has been the Commission on Water Resource Management’s first deputy for four years. He was the first Native Hawaiian to hold the position. He was accused of restricting water access during the Maui fires and was subsequently reassigned. But after public backlash and a lawsuit, Manuel was reinstated to his position in October.

Kaleo Manuel, Deputy of the state Commission on Water Resource Management, is back at work after a controversial redeployment following the Aug. 8 wildfires in West Maui.

Taro patches once dominated the landscape in Lāhainā, with more than 1,700 recorded in the region in the mid-1800s. But once water started being diverted for sugar cane cultivation, taro farmers from Kauaʻula Valley fought back in one of the earliest recorded legal battles over water rights in West Maui. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi has the story.

Several dozen prominent Native Hawaiian leaders gathered at the Capitol last week to voice their concerns about the redeployment of Water Commission Deputy Kaleo Manuel. They are calling on an apology from the Green administration and Manuel's reinstatement.