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Don't see a separate thread for the Hawaii fire and its aftermath. Hawaii's deputy director for water resource management delayed releasing water to help battle the fire for about 4 1/2 hours.
Maui Water Official Delayed Release of Water to Fight Massive Fire
Hawaii Water Official Reveres Water, Equity
The Babylon Bee of course summarizes the events perfectly:
Specifically, according to accounts of four people with knowledge of the situation, M. Kaleo Manuel, a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner and DLNR’s deputy director for water resource management, initially balked at West Maui Land Co.’s requests for additional water to help prevent the fire from spreading to properties managed by the company. According to the sources, Manuel wanted West Maui Land to get permission from a taro, or kalo, farm located downstream from the company’s property. Manuel eventually released water but not until after the fire had spread.
Maui Water Official Delayed Release of Water to Fight Massive Fire
Access to water should be predicated on “conversations about equity,” according to the Hawaii official under fire for delaying access to water during the Maui wildfires. M. Kaleo Manuel, former deputy director of the Hawaii Commission on Water Resource Management, waited for more than five hours to release water during the wildfires that devastated Maui, according to reports.
In a livestream debate hosted by the University of Hawaii last year, Manuel described water as a sacred god. “Let water connect us and not divide us,” said Manuel, referring to water distribution on the island. “We can share it, but it requires true conversations about equity…How do we coexist with the resources we have?”
A former Obama Foundation leader — part of a program by the former President’s non-profit to help participants with coaching and “practical skill building for social change” — Manuel said he considered water an important tool for social justice.
Manuel was transferred to another position within the Department of Land and Natural Resources Wednesday, according to Honolulu Civil Beat, which first reported the story of the delay.
The West Maui Land Company said in an Aug. 10 letter to Manuel that his commission refused its request to divert streams to fill landowners’ reservoirs in the hard-hit Lahaina area until the wildfires raged out of control, according to a report.
Hawaii Water Official Reveres Water, Equity
The Babylon Bee of course summarizes the events perfectly:
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