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Stream water emerges from an East Maui Irrigation diversion in Kailua Wednesday afternoon. A portion of the stream’s flow is diverted at the concrete structure into a ditch bound for Central Maui. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos

The Hawaii Supreme Court Thursday denied a state petition that included a request to roll back court orders so more water could be allocated to Alexander & Baldwin and East Maui Irrigation following the Upcountry fires earlier this month.

In a petition filed on Aug. 9, a day after wildfires broke out Upcountry, the state said that “there is not enough fire reserve water in Central Maui” due to an earlier Environmental Court decision to reduce the permitted amount of water for the companies.

A&B and EMI’s complex water diversion system supplies farming in Central Maui as well as Maui County customers Upcountry.

On Thursday morning, in its order denying the petition, the Hawaii Supreme Court said that the state had failed to establish a “clear and indisputable right to the relief requested and a lack of other means to redress adequately the alleged wrong or to obtain that requested action.”

“I am glad the supreme court saw through the unfounded and shameless claims of the attorney general and Alexander and Baldwin in this latest water grab. What they did and tried to do was inexcusable,” Wayne Tanaka, director of the Sierra Club of Hawai’i, said in an email Thursday afternoon.

State Department of Land and Natural Resources wildland firefighters lift their hose to let an evacuating resident pass while battling a blaze in a grove of pine trees near the top of Olinda Road on the morning of Aug. 8.

“The attorney general and the BLNR must apologize, to the courts, to the people of Maui, and to the entirety of Hawaii for their shameless, dishonest, and time-wasting actions, and provide us with concrete assurances that they will never sell out our wai or ‘aina to corporate interests no matter how powerful those entities may be.”

The Department of the Attorney General said in a statement Thursday, “While we are disappointed in the result, we respect the Hawai’i Supreme Court’s decision.”

In November last year, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources approved permits that would allow up to 40.49 million gallons per day to be diverted from East Maui streams. It also denied Sierra Club a contested case hearing, board minutes show.

In June, Judge Jeffrey Crabtree, who also serves as the senior Environmental Court judge for the First Circuit, lowered the amount of water A&B and EMI can take from East Maui streams to 31.5 mgd. He also ruled that the BLNR must hold a contested case hearing upon request if it considered issuing new revocable permits for 2023.

After the state filed a petition asking to reinstate the BLNR’s original decision and water allocation, oral arguments were held Wednesday before the Hawaii Supreme Court.

State Deputy Attorney General Miranda Steed said during the hearing that not only Maui County firefighters had to battle the fire but also the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry and Wildlife personnel. The state said that Mahi Pono was also assisting with firefighting efforts.

Sierra Club attorney David Kimo Frankel said at the hearing that the “petition was filed under false pretenses” and mischaracterizes the Environmental Court’s actions and statements, and that the amount of water allocated provided adequate supply to fight the fire.

In court documents, Maui County, which did not take a position in the matter, said that there was enough water to fight the fires in Central Maui under both the BLNR permit with a higher water allocation or Crabtree’s orders with a lower allocation.

* Staff Writer Melissa Tanji can be reached at .

State Department of Land and Natural Resources wildland firefighters lift their hose to let an evacuating resident pass while battling a blaze in a grove of pine trees near the top of Olinda Road on the morning of Aug. 8. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

Stream water emerges from an East Maui Irrigation diversion in Kailua Wednesday afternoon. A portion of the stream’s flow is diverted at the concrete structure into a ditch bound for Central Maui. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos

State Department of Land and Natural Resources wildland firefighters lift their hose to let an evacuating resident pass while battling a blaze in a grove of pine trees near the top of Olinda Road on the morning of Aug. 8.

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