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Kula Community Water Resource Planning

Kula Community Meeting and Listening Session

Co-hosted by the Kula Community Association
part of the East Maui Water Authority Community Conversation Series June 16-18

Tuesday, June 17, 2025 | 6:30 to 9:00pm
Kula Community Center, Von Tempsky Community Center Complex
E. Lower Kula Rd.

Description: The East Maui Watershed, approximately 120,000 acres, provides the largest source of surface water in the state.  It is essential that we play a role in the management and use of these water resources to ensure that our community benefits and issues such as ensuring water availability for Upcountry residents, farmers and ranchers; food security; and climate resilience are addressed. The East Maui Water Authority and Public Finance Initiative will engage Upcountry residents, people on the water meter list, farmers, policymakers and anyone concerned about water in a deep diving discussion about water resource management and how it can support Upcountry residents.

The meeting will include:

  • Update on the East Maui Water Authority and ‘Aha Wai O Maui Hikina
  • Explanation of how watershed and water resource management can and should address: equitable access for local communities, climate change and resilience; water availability for food security and farming.
  • Primer on funding options for water system improvements.
  • Panel discussion: Lessons from national and global water management, indigenous rights, and sustainable stewardship.
  • Community engagement to hear directly from residents to capture community sentiments and desires for moving forward with policymaking on their behalf.
  • Learn from the community their preferences on management of water resources, who should be prioritized for water from East Maui Streams and East Maui Water System, how those on the water meter list will use the water if a new meter is obtained, and what kind of food is grown Upcountry.

Goals:

Information from the meetings will be used to guide the EMWAʻs efforts in working with the state and private interests and will serve as the basis for the first community and culturally based watershed plan. The meeting will bring community members together with policy experts to share education and awareness on how and why community equity should be considered in the water resource discussion. Experts will explain examples from other areas that achieved success and provide strategies to address food security, climate resilience, cultural knowledge, practices and perspectives in water resource management. The goal is to better understand community sentiments and harness them into actionable efforts to support local management of local resources.