East Maui Water Authority Chooses Water Resource Expert As Board’s First Chair
Former Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa, who had opposed the authority’s creation, was unsuccessful in his bid for the leadership role.
A longtime champion of Native Hawaiian rights took the helm Thursday of a voter-created body that could significantly influence how water policy gets shaped and what projects get developed on the island’s east side going forward.
The newly formed selected Jonathan Scheuer as chairman in an 8-1 vote. Former Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa voted against Scheuer after making a strong push to fill the role himself during the board’s first meeting.
鈥淭his board and what it鈥檚 going to do is going to have a significant impact for generations to come,鈥 Arakawa said.
Scheuer, an Oahu-based consultant for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and Arakawa were vastly different options to chair the board, which oversees the East Maui Water Authority that voters created after overwhelming passing a charter amendment in November 2022. The Maui County Council appointed them to serve on the 11-member board after a hyper political vetting process last year.
Arakawa, a longtime public servant, initially opposed the authority’s creation. He warned in 2022 how it would halt new development and 鈥渒ill Mahi Pono,” a farming company backed by a Canadian pension fund that bought former Alexander & Baldwin sugarcane lands.
Arakawa said Thursday that he opposed the authority’s creation over concerns that it would supersede the state water commission, and that given his political background as a three-term mayor and three-term council member was better positioned to steer the board. He said he knew the “movers and shakers,” and that to make things happen on Maui, 鈥測ou have to know who to talk to, how to talk to them.鈥
鈥淲e鈥檙e in a constant state of evolution right now,” Arakawa said.
Scheuer received significant support from members of the public, such as Honokowai Hawaiian Homestead Association member Kai McDonald, who testified Thursday and touted his background.
The co-author of 鈥 Scheuer is considered a leading expert on water issues in Hawaii.
He holds a doctorate in environmental studies and has a long resume that lists him as a consultant to the DHHL as well as private clients, former chair of the state Land Use Commission, former director at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, former member and vice chair of the Oahu Island Burial Council and other roles, including lecturing at the University of Hawaii Manoa in environmental policy.
鈥淕iven the really significant kuleana of this board and what we鈥檝e been asked to do and also the complexity and difficulty, my desire is simply to serve my fellow members and the voters of Maui who asked for this work to be done,鈥 Scheuer said.
The charter amendment, passed with more than 64% of the vote, gave Maui County鈥檚 local government the power to create regional water authorities across Maui, Molokai and Lanai. The goal was to provide local residents more control over how water — a scarce public trust resource in Hawaii — is managed in their areas.
The East Maui body is the first regional water authority of its kind to emerge thus far.
Maui County Council member Shane Sinenci, who drafted the charter amendment, opened Thursday鈥檚 meeting noting that East Maui contains 鈥渢he largest producing watersheds in the state.鈥
But water has long been controlled by private interests, Sinenci said, and fights over allocation among users are often highly contentious, emotional and costly due to lawsuits.
鈥淭his East Maui Water Authority and Community Board gives our community, who has eyes on the ground, a voice, a seat at the table and an opportunity to improve the health of the watershed,鈥 he said.
Besides improving watershed health, the new authority has the opportunity to 鈥渄emand enforcement of existing regulations, and the ability to secure long-term water rights and develop public-private partnerships that benefit everyone,” the East Maui lawmaker said.
At the water authority鈥檚 next meeting, members will approve a job description for a director. The position will be posted and a three- to four-week recruiting period will likely follow.
The Maui County Council will need to approve whoever is selected as director. The new hire is expected to be in place by May, according to Gina Flammer Young, executive assistant to Sinenci.
Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.
