Water access must be based on “equity conversations,” according to Hawaii official criticized for delaying water access. during the Maui wildfires.
M. Kaleo Manuel, former deputy director of the Hawaii Water Resources Management Commission, waited more than five hours to release water during the wildfires that devastated Maui, according to reports.
In a live streaming debate organized by the University of Hawaii last year, Manuel described water as a sacred god.
“May the water connect us and not divide us,” Manuel said, referring to the distribution of water on the island. “We can share it, but it requires real conversations about equity… How are we going to live with the resources we have?”
A former leader of the Obama Foundation — part of a program by the former president’s nonprofit organization to help participants with training and “develop practical skills for social change” — Manuel said he saw water as an important tool for to social justice.
Manuel was transferred Wednesday to another position within the Department of Land and Natural Resources, he said Honolulu Civil Beat, who first reported the delay story.
The West Maui Land Company said in an Aug. 10 letter to Manuel that its commission rejected its request to divert streams to fill landowner reservoirs in the hard-hit Lahaina area. until the wildfires got out of controlin accordance with a report.
Sources told Honolulu Civil Beat that Manuel had asked the company to consult with a local farmer about the impact of the water diversion before approving his request.
“We saw the devastation surrounding us without the ability to help,” the company said in the letter. “We anxiously awaited the morning knowing that we could have made more water available for MFD [Maui Fire Department] if our request had been approved immediately.”
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