The Commission on Water Resource Management has deferred a decision on whether to maintain stream diversions in East Maui.

The Commission, wrapping up a two-day meeting meeting in Paia, Maui, said it will ask affected parties to provide more information and revisit the issue in three months, a spokesman said.
The Commission’s staff had recommended keeping diversions at 18 of 19 East Maui streams, which have been used for more than a century to provide water to sugar plantations in Central Maui.
The recommendation was opposed by a group that includes taro farmers, environmentalists and native Hawaiians.