When Don Williams purchased the Ma`alaea property in August 1994, the seller was a branch of the Church of Scientology, which had had an ownership interest in at least part of the land dating back to the early 1980s. In … Continued
Lease Agreement No. B-94-4, between Don Williams, lessor, and the state of Hawai`i, lessee, covering a little more than an acre of land at Ma`alaea, Maui, sets forth the conditions under which the state Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation … Continued
For the last two years, the expansion of the Ma`alaea small boat harbor was held up because of the refusal of the Office of State Planning (now simply the Office of Planning) to declare the project consistent with the state … Continued
Around 24 million gallons a day of water are trapped by the windward tunnels that feed into the Waiahole Ditch. Until December 1994, all of this water was taken to the leeward side of the island. Following an agreement negotiated … Continued
Among the most important — but also most subtle — of the arguments made in support of increased flow to the windward side is that natural flows in streams are part of the public trust. As such, the argument continues, … Continued
In a policy decision made at the highest levels of state government, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the state Department of Agriculture allied themselves with the interests of the leeward parties in the Waiahole contested case … Continued
Before construction of the Waiahole ditch system, the stretch of the Ko`olau mountain range from Kahana to Waiahole could be thought of as an enormous reservoir. Water entered the mountains when rain, released from clouds snagged by the mountain peaks, … Continued
What would happen if, at the end of the contested case hearing, the Water Commission allows continued flows in the Waiahole Ditch? The Waiahole Irrigation Company, in anticipation of this, has established a formal mechanism for distributing water to various … Continued
The National Marine Fisheries Service has begun to re-examine the limits it has established for the incidental takings of sea turtles by the Hawai`i-based longline fishing fleet. The action was prompted by pressure from a conservation group and by NMFS’ … Continued