Maui Hikina — E Ho’oponopono ‘Āina (East Maui — Restoring Balance To The Living Environment)
At the request of Ms. Gina Young, Director, County of Maui, East Maui Water Authority and members of The ‘Aha Wai o Maui Hikina Community Board, Kumu Pono Associates LLC* conducted detailed research into the history of the biocultural landscape of Maui Hikina. As a part of the study we also reviewed historical records that describe the landscape we see today. How significant changes, driven by commercial extraction of water from the natural environment, and how the resulting impacts disrupted the biocultural environment and sustainable life-ways.
[* Kumu Pono Associates LLC was established in 1995 by Kepā & Onaona Maly who prepared this study
with the support of our Maui ‘ohana, Jen Kamaho‘i & Richard Mather.]
The interruption of the ancient system—through land privatization, water diversion, and external control—was not simply the result of modernization. It was a political and economic shift that devalued ancestral knowledge in favor of profit. But that knowledge was never lost. It was retained in loʻi that continued to be planted, in ʻohana that refused to leave, and in the words of kūpuna who insisted that the streams could run again.
The East Maui Water Authority was established by a mandate of the voters of Maui County and formalized in the Maui County Charter (2022 Revision, §8-19.5). The Director of the East Maui Water Authority is tasked with the investigation, acquisition, management, and control of water collection and delivery systems in East Maui. This includes, but is not limited to, the legacy water license areas of Nāhiku, Ke‘anae, Honomanū, and Huelo. The board is authorized to appoint a regional director, review and approve a watershed to provide the East Maui Water Authority with ‘ike kūpuna and local knowledge.
Maui County to Charter Section 8.19.3 established a community board consisting of eleven members, eight of which must have experience in water resource management and watershed restoration in the applicable watershed and reside in the applicable community plan area—one with experience in water resource management who is actively engaged in farming, aquaculture, or loko i‘a (fishpond stewardship), or ranching, in the area where water service is provided; one with experience in water resource management who resides full-time in the area where water service is provided; and one who is a representative of the Hawaiian Homes Commission.
The East Maui Water Authority and its board’s responsibilities are not merely administrative. They rest on a deeper foundation: a recognition that water in Maui Hikina has always been managed through relationships, between people and place, between upland and lowland, between kūpuna (ancestors) and their moʻopuna (descendants). This report hopes to contribute to that foundation. Mākou no me ke aloha – a e Ola i ka Wai!
Maui Hikina has long been recognized by Kānaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiians) not merely as a geographic region, but as an integrated living system in which land, water, forest, and people functioned as interdependent kin. In the Hawaiian worldview, resources were not managed in isolation, but as part of an intricate web of relationships governed by kapu (sacred restrictions), kuleana, and the seasonal rhythms of nature. It is in this spirit that we refer to Maui Hikina as a biocultural landscape: a place where cultural practices were inseparable from ecological processes, and where governance was rooted in observation, ceremony, and reciprocal care.
This collection of documents (technical report and accompanying appendices) incorporates extensive translated archival sources, including moʻolelo (traditions) and mele (chant, song) from 19th-century Hawaiian language newspapers, as well as selected references from early ethnographers and government land records. These sources help readers understand the cultural meaning of East Maui’s named places and document the logic and relationships that guided traditional stewardship. Many moʻolelo, such as those referencing akua (gods), ancestors, and elemental forms tied to specific streams or mountains, are rooted in this region and support the continuity of place-based knowledge systems. As the report notes, this archive is not exhaustive, but it is foundational.
This study is not a call to return to the past, but to remember what the past made possible. Maui Hikina sustained an abundance—of food, of water, of knowledge—because its people lived in relationship with the living environment and with each other.
That relationship was not incidental. It was structured, practiced, and continually reaffirmed through work, protocol, and presence.
The interruption of that system—through land privatization, water diversion, and external control—was not simply the result of modernization. It was a political and economic shift that devalued ancestral knowledge in favor of profit. But that knowledge was never lost. It was retained in loʻi that continued to be planted, in ʻohana that refused to leave, and in the words of kūpuna who insisted that the streams could run again.
“Nawai ho‘i ‘ole ke akamai i ke ala hele i hehi ‘ia na ku‘u mau kūpuna?”
Who would not be smart in traveling the path of my ancestors?)
[Adapted from a statement made by Liholiho Kamehameha II (ca. 1822).
(ref. M. K. Pukui. 1983, # 2301. ‘Ōlelo No‘eau).]
The challenge that we face today, when speaking of ka wai ola a Kāne—the life-giving waters of Kāne that flow from Maui Hikina—is putting into action that which is good, and which will sustain the generations that follow us.
1 2025 09 30 KPA02c Maui Hikina Biocultural Landscape Synthesis.pdf
2 2025 07 30 KPA02c Maui Hikina App A Tech Rpt Biocultural Landscape.pdf
3 2025 07 30 KPA02b Maui Hikina App B OH Collection.pdf
4 2025 Maui Hikina App C Archival References (KPA02d.pdf)
2025 07 07 Hamakualoa Maui RM (final).pdf
2025 07 07 Keanae Maui RM (final).pdf
2025 07 14 Maui Hikina Overlay Map 8 (RM).pdf
2025 07 29 RM 2234 Overlay Map Wailua Maui (RM).pdf
Testimony
To: Chair Kanakaʻole and Members of the Board of Land and Natural Resources
From: Kepā & Onaona Maly
Re: August 14, 2026 ~ BLNR Meeting PASS Item D-6 Agenda Item and REJECT Item D-7 in its Entirety!
Ke welina mai iā ‘oukou,
We humbly Request that the BLNR PASS Item D-6 and move forward with the contested case hearing concerning permits for Maui Hikina water, and that the BLNR REJECT Item D-7 in its entirety, as such action would allow a long-term water license to be offered at public auction before the significant questions regarding these waters have been resolved. E mau ke ‘ea o ka ‘āina i ka pono!
We are life long- residents of Hawai‘i, and for almost 50-years, we have researched and written numerous ethno-historical studies to document the biocultural landscape of Maui and all the Hawaiian Islands. Additionally, Onaona is a lineal descendant of kānaka ‘ōiwi families of Maui with generational ties to Maui Hikina and Lāhainā.
Among our work are detailed ethnographic studies across Maui Hikina (Kumu Pono Associates LLC). Our work is done to promote cultural literacy and help island communities in their stewardship initiatives; and help agencies make informed decisions about matters that if left unchecked further diminish the well-being of our biocultural environment.
We understand that the applicant has suggested that our Ethno-historical study titled—
“Wai o ke Ola–He Wahi Mo‘olelo no Maui Hikina. A Collection of Native Traditions, Historical Accounts, and Oral History Interviews of the Lands of Hāmākua Poko, Hāmākua Loa, and Ko‘olau, Maui Hikina (East Maui), Island of Maui.” Prepared for Garret Hew, East Maui Irrigation Company. Maly & Maly, Kumu Pono Associates
Volume I MaHikina 59-011702b
Volume II MaHikina59-120101
The applicant has stated that no further work required in this field, and that the mandated “Ka Pa‘akai o ka ‘Āina” regulatory conditions have been met. We disagree! To help you better understand why this is our position, we attach one of our more recent studies—
“Hō‘ike Ho‘opōkole No Ka Lilo Ana O Ka Wai Ola O Maui Hikina, Pehea Lā E Nele Ai? ~ An Ethnographic Synthesis and Story Map of How Alexander & Baldwin and its Successors Gained Control of Maui Hikina Water Sources” (Kumu Pono Associates LLC, May 11, 2026).
While we are among a group of ethnographers who have conducted detailed research and reported on the legacy of Maui Hikina, much more work remains to be done. Our findings justify establishment of a Maui-centric management of Maui Hikina water resources, rather than perpetuating the nearly 170 years of extracting resources. It is clear that the biocultural environment cannot sustain ongoing extractions and poor management.
“Ola ka ‘Āina, Ola ke Kānaka, a e Ola ke Kaiāulu” Healthy Land (Environment), Healthy People, and Healthy Community
Hawaiians have always linked the wellbeing of their biocultural landscape with their own wellbeing. To speak of Maui Hikina as a biocultural landscape is not a metaphor. It is a recognition that knowledge systems embedded in place and passed down over generations through families are not only valid but vital to any contemporary restoration effort. The physical structure of the land, its ridges, valleys, and waterways, has not changed so drastically that these relationships cannot be reactivated. However, doing so requires more than ecological restoration; it requires governance that understands place not only as a resource to be extracted, but it is also ‘ohana.
In taking up their mandate, the Maui County-East Maui Water Authority and ʻAha Wai o Maui Hikina, enter into this lineage. To care for this landscape today is to acknowledge the systems that maintained it before water was extracted, and to ask: What would it mean to restore the flow, not just of water, but of cultural understanding and responsibility?
Maui Hikina Traditional and Customary Practices and Evolving Governance
Understanding water governance in Maui Hikina requires engaging not only with customary knowledge and historical practice, but also with the legal instruments that have shaped access and control over time. Court decisions relevant to East Maui’s water systems highlight the often-fractured jurisdictional landscape in which Native communities have had to operate.
Historically, large-scale water diversion was enabled through government leases and agreements that did not adequately support perpetuations of native practices. The earliest diversion infrastructure in East Maui was constructed during the Kingdom era, but expansion intensified under the Republic, Territorial, and State governments, particularly through the formation of the East Maui Irrigation Company and its associated leases of government lands.
These leases, many of which remained in effect into the late 20th century, granted private companies the right to divert water from multiple streams across East Maui. They were often issued with minimal environmental review or public process. Over time, these diversions became institutionalized, even as their impacts on streamflow, agriculture, fisheries, and cultural practices became increasingly evident.
The restoration of East Maui’s watershed systems is not simply an ecological or engineering task, it is also a governance challenge. For the Maui County-East Maui Water Authority and the ʻAha Wai o Maui Hikina to fulfill its kuleana as outlined in the Maui County Charter, it must operate within a complex matrix of legal precedent, community expectation, and cultural obligation.
The most effective water governance models begin with the places they intend to serve. This means recognizing and upholding the integrity of individual ahupua‘a—Nāhiku, Ke‘anae, Honomanū, and Huelo—not as arbitrary units, but as living systems with historical and ecological coherence. Decision-making must be grounded in the specific stream systems, loʻi complexes, and cultural practices that characterize each region.
The people who live in Maui Hikina, and whose families have stewarded its lands and waters for generations, must be acknowledged as having expertise in the living environment. These voices are not supplemental, nor is the information they impart anecdotal; they are foundational to any environmental and social just restoration process. Their lineage and cultural attachment to Maui Hikina should not be relegated to appendices but serve as guiding content in management plans.
Traditional systems of water management in Maui Hikina were finely tuned to seasonality, streamflow, and community needs. These systems, although sometimes dismissed as pre-modern, offer lessons for contemporary infrastructure design. ʻAuwai with built-in overflow, loʻi with cascading flow-through, and rotational access models are still ecologically viable.
It is our belief that all watershed planning and management should fall under Maui County, The East Maui Watershed Authority, ‘Aha Wai o Maui Hikina and partners across the state.
Reassert the Public Trust Doctrine and Customary Rights
Legal precedent in Hawaiʻi is clear: water is a public trust resource, and Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices must be protected. However, these rights are often overlooked or minimized in the bureaucratic process. The Maui County-East Maui Water Authority and the ʻAha Wai o Maui Hikina have both a legal and cultural mandate to serve the communities and watershed on Maui.
Document and Monitor Stream Behavior as Cultural Indicator
Monitoring is often understood as a technical exercise—measuring flow rate, turbidity, or sedimentation. But in East Maui, stream health is also a cultural indicator. The sound of water, the presence of ‘ōpae, ʻoʻopu or hīhīwai, the species in the muliwai—these are ways in which families have long read the state of their watershed.
Maui-based management will support a real-time biocultural monitoring program that tracks both ecological and cultural indicators, integrating “kilo” knowledge into data collection.
Plan for Intergenerational Stewardship
There is a pattern of generational knowledge transmission. This is a resource that must be cultivated. As younger generations are called into stewardship roles, they must be given tools, access, and opportunity to learn from elders and practitioners. Cultural and intergenerational stewardship cannot thrive if the resources which are the foundation of Hawaiian culture continue to be degraded.
Recognize Interconnected Impacts
Maui Hikina is not a dot on the map. While the work of the Maui County-East Maui Water Authority and the ʻAha Wai o Maui Hikina is concentrated in specific ahupuaʻa, the effects of restoration, diversion, or degradation ripple across the island and the Pae ʻĀina. Restoration is not a localized repair, it is a statement about the kind of island future that is being built, and the legacy of future generations.
“Nawai ho‘i ‘ole ke akamai i ke ala hele i hehi ‘ia na ku‘u mau kūpuna?” (Who would not be smart in traveling the path of my ancestors?)[1]
We urge you – BLNR – State of Hawai‘i to remember what the past teaches us and made possible. Maui Hikina sustained an abundance of food, water, and knowledge because its people lived in relationship with the natural environment and with each other. That relationship was not incidental. It was structured, practiced, and continually reaffirmed through work, protocol, and presence.
The interruption of that system—through land privatization, water diversion, and external control—was not simply the result of modernization. It was a political and economic shift that devalued ancestral knowledge in favor of profit. But that knowledge has not been lost. It is retained in loʻi that continued to be planted, in ʻohana that refused to leave, and in the words of kūpuna who insisted that the streams could run again.
The challenge that we face today, when speaking of ka wai ola a Kāne—the life-giving waters of Kāne that flow from Maui Hikina—is putting into action that which is “Pono,” just and good, and which will sustain the generations that follow us.
Please end the “Hewa” (wrong) of unsustainable agriculture and lack of “Pono.” You have the opportunity to “Ho‘oponopono” (set doubly right) that which has been taken — E ho‘i i ka “pono wai” o Maui Hikina!