Posted on: Thursday, October 21, 2004

Agricultural firms deny Maui water is being wasted

Advertiser Staff

Officials from two Maui agricultural companies yesterday said they are putting to good use all of the surface water available to them from a ditch system in the West Maui Mountains.

Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. and Wailuku Agribusiness, formerly Wailuku Sugar Co., are the subject of a complaint filed by Earthjustice alleging that the companies are wasting millions of gallons of water diverted from the Central Maui streams (Waihe'e, North and South Waiehu, 'Iao and Waikapu) known collectively as Na Wai 'Eha.

The environmental law firm filed the complaint with the state Commission on Water Resource Management on behalf of two community groups, Hui o Na Wai 'Eha and Maui Tomorrow.

Wailuku Ag president Avery Chumbley said yesterday that water from the ditch system continues to be fully utilized for sugar and other crops.

"In fact, Wailuku Ag along with HC&S do not have enough water for their agricultural activities," Chumbley said.

He called the Earthjustice complaint a "backdoor attempt" to pursue the groups' anti-urbanization agenda. "If that's their concern, they should address those issues through the appropriate agencies," he said.

HC&S plantation general manager Stephen Holaday said in a statement that the company uses water "efficiently and effectively because it is a scarce resource and we are water-short."

Holaday said the complaint inaccurately stated that HC&S had reduced its acreage, when its acreage actually increased after it began farming former Wailuku Sugar land. He also said Earthjustice was wrong when it claimed the company had not submitted required reports to the water commission on its use of water from the ditch system.