Kamehameha drops bid for Waiahole ditch water
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Kamehameha Schools yesterday withdrew its request to use 4.2 million gallons of Waiahole water for a Leeward housing development, delighting a coalition of environmental and community groups poised to go before a state commission to fight the diversion of Windward O'ahu's water.
Kamehameha Schools officials said the board of the charitable trust met several times this week with the groups to discuss the emotional issue and concluded
it was time to reconsider the request made four years ago to use Windward water from the Waiahole ditch system for dust control, golf course development and landscaping at the proposed development known as Waiawa by Gentry.
Trustee board chairman Douglas Ing said the decision was "to develop a water policy for our lands state-
wide that is consistent with our strategic plan and investment policies," meaning the board will look for another source of water.
Groups opposed to the diversion of water have maintained that the request goes against a 2000 Hawai'i Supreme Court ruling and the schools' strategic plan. Attorney Kapua Sproat of Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, who represented the groups, applauded the trustees' decision to pull back the request.
The state's Commission on Water Resource Management was to continue its public hearing on the water request yesterday afternoon at the State Capitol. In addition to the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, those opposing the proposed diversion include the Waiahole-Waikane Community Association, Hakipu'u 'Ohana, Ka Lahui Hawai'i, the Kahalu'u Neighborhood Board and the Makawai Stream Restoration Alliance.
"How we manage our water is crucial to the future of our islands. Our mission is to provide educational opportunities for Hawaiians in perpetuity," Ing said. "To do that, we must manage all our resources well, so we can educate Hawaiian children for generations to come."
Attorney Sproat said her clients were "pleased and surprised" by the decision. She said they had spent hours talking with the trustees and "explaining why it is important to keep the water in our streams."
The trust was seeking the water-use permit for a 3,600-unit master-planned community on land owned by Kamehameha Schools and planned for development by Gentry.
Sproat said the groups, which include many Native Hawaiians, had been disappointed by the need to fight with Kamehameha Schools, which works in other ways to help the Hawaiian people.
Kala Hoe, of Hakipu'u 'Ohana, said yesterday that the groups had expected a protracted battle and were relieved by the pullback.
"I'm just very happy that we're not fighting," he said.
John Reppun, of the Kahalu'u Neighborhood Board, said he was encouraged by the trustees' decision. He noted that the groups have all spent millions of dollars on the lengthy battle over where water from the Windward ditch system should flow.
Reppun said he hopes the decision this week is indicative of more cooperation ahead.
"There's a lot more to be gained by working hard to find some common ground," he said.
Schools chief executive officer Hamilton McCubbin said the change is an important one.
"The trustees have challenged management to assess every decision and recommendation, every single day, to make sure they are consistent with the goals and values established in the will (of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop) and the strategic plan," he said.
Sproat noted that the current trustees inherited the proposal to seek the use of the ditch water for the housing development.
The Waiahole controversy has attracted widespread interest because the commission and Hawai'i Supreme Court have attempted to strike a balance between protecting streams and ecosystems and nurturing the diversified agriculture industry on the Leeward side that has become dependent on the inexpensive ditch water pumped in from Windward O'ahu.
