KALEO MANUEL Water commission deputy
Kaleo Manuel was reinstated to the state water commission after an investigation by the attorney general and a flurry of public backlash over his removal.
Dawn Chang, chairperson of the state Commission on Water Resource Management, announced Monday that Manuel would return to his post, effective immediately. According to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the attorney general had requested on Aug. 15 that Manuel be deployed to another division while she conducted an “investigation of certain personnel events” related to the fires.
“I was informed today, that the Attorney General has completed her review of this isolated issue,” Chang, who also heads the Board of Land and Natural Resources, said in a statement on Monday. “I would like to thank Dean Uyeno for stepping in as the Acting Deputy Director of CWRM and appreciate his steady leadership of CWRM during this unprecedented time.”
A DLNR spokesperson said Monday afternoon that Manuel was not able to be reached for comment.
The attorney general’s office did not provide any details about the nature of the investigation, saying in a statement to The Maui News on Monday afternoon that “the Department of the Attorney General “does not make statements regarding personnel matters.” The department did confirm that it requested Manuel’s move to another division.
DLNR made no mention of an investigation when it announced on Aug. 16 that Manuel had been redeployed to a different division, attributing it at the time to the focus on Maui’s post-fire recovery.
“The purpose of this deployment is to permit CWRM and the Department to focus on the necessary work to assist the people of Maui recover from the devastation of wildfires,” a DLNR news release said. “This deployment does not suggest that First Deputy Manuel did anything wrong. DLNR encourages the media and the public to avoid making judgments until all the facts are known.”
On Aug. 19, DLNR announced that Uyeno, a 25-year-long staffer with the commission, was assigned as the interim water deputy on a temporary basis.
The day before Manuel was moved, Honolulu Civil Beat had reported that DLNR and Manuel delayed West Maui Land Co.’s request to release water to help fight the Lahaina fire and wanted the company to get permission from a kalo farm downstream, citing sources familiar with the situation.
Community members pushed back on Manuel’s removal from the water commission. West Maui residents Kekai Keahi and Jennifer Kamaho’i Mather sued Chang and the commission on Aug. 21, saying that Chang did not have the power to move Manuel and that the commission did not provide public notice or hold an open meeting that would have allowed testimony on the decision.
Dozens of residents on Maui and across the state submitted testimony for the commission’s Sept. 21 meeting calling for Manuel to be reinstated and saying that he and small taro farmers were being “unfairly scapegoated” by West Maui Land Co. in the long-standing debate over water rights and claims of impeding firefighting efforts.
“It is profoundly disheartening to hear about the suspension of Maui Komohana’s important water management designation (and re-assignment of Kaleo Manuel) in favor of a fiction that points the blame of ‘not enough water to fight fire or build houses’ at subsistence farmers,” wrote Melissa Chimera, who’s held former land and conservation management positions around Maui County and currently works in wildfire science communication with the University of Hawai’i and Hawai’i Wildfire Management Organization.
“We all know who the primary consumers of water in Maui Komohana are. They are not those whose portions of streams have, up until recently, historically run dry.”
The Maui County Council on Friday also voted 7-2 to approve a resolution introduced by Council Member Keani Rawlins-Fernandez urging Gov. Josh Green to reinstate Manuel.
Attorney Lance Collins, who is representing Keahi and Mather in the lawsuit, said in an email Monday afternoon, “Everyone is relieved that common sense and the law have prevailed.”
“At this time, the lawsuit will continue since the administration has not repudiated the unlawful actions of Dawn Chang — which could be repeated,” Collins said.
“In addition, we filed a motion to have the attorney general disqualified from representing the commission after commissioners stated during the last CWRM meeting that the commissioners were being blocked by the attorney general from putting this issue on an agenda for discussion,” Collins added.
Both the lawsuit and the motion are scheduled to be heard in court in November.
An official with West Maui Land Co. could not be immediately reached for comment on Monday afternoon.
* Managing Editor Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.
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