In what appears to be a blow to East Maui Native Hawaiian taro farmers and environmentalists — and a potential much-needed win for struggling Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. — the state Commission on Water Resource Management staff has recommended that water diverted by HC&S be restored to only one of the 19 streams it uses to irrigate its sugar crop.

An attorney for the taro farmers seeking to have the stream water restored called the recommendation "ludicrous."

"My first reaction was, 'This is the result of eight years of work?' " said Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. attorney Alan Murakami.

The staff findings are only recommendations, but Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. attorneys said they believe the seven-member commission will rely heavily on the staff assessments and recommendations when it renders its decision, most likely during a public meeting scheduled for Wednesday in Pä'ia.

The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. at the Pä'ia Community Center with a staff presentation and time for questions from Water Resource Management Commission members, Chairwoman Laura Thielen said. Thielen is also director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

The public will get a chance to testify beginning at 1 p.m., and Thielen said she expects her fellow commissioners to reach a consensus that evening or the next day, depending on how many people want to speak.

Thielen said she thinks that the staff "did a very good, very thorough job," but she will listen to other commissioners' questions and public testimony before making a decision on how she will cast her own vote on the issue. She also noted that the Native Hawaiian groups did get more than 12 million gallons of water a day restored to streams in the same watershed last year through an almost identical commission process.

Murakami and attorney Moses Haia filed the litigation on behalf of Na Moku Aupuni O Ko'olau Hui and taro farmers Beatrice Kekahuna, Marjorie Wallet and Elizabeth Lapenia.

The plaintiffs demanded that the state establish new instream flow standards for the East Maui watershed to either end, or significantly reduce, HC&S' 125-year-old practice of diverting up to 160 million gallons a day from all the East Maui streams.