AS WE CELEBRATE THE SUCCESSFUL MEDIATION THAT WILL BRING WATER BACK TO THE WAIMEA RIVER,

OUR WORK TO WATCHDOG AND HELP ENFORCE ACCOUNTABILITY CONTINUES

 

Mahalo to everyone for many years of kokua that resulted in the successful water mediation agreement! 

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This includes the teachers, parents, Waimea High School students and friends, taro farmers, cultural practitioners, heavy equipment helpers, lawyers, laulau and fundraiser helpers, policymakers, state leaders and community groups who helped spread knowledge islandwide and worldwide. 

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The longterm success of the mediation agreement will depend on the responsible and effective enforcement of the agreement's terms - respecting the agreed-on levels of river flow and instream flow standards.  Under the mediation agreement, monitoring stations will eventually be installed, but firsthand reports from all of us as watchdogs will be important.

 

Waimea residents and our supporters must remain vigilant on the river's flows, season to season and year after year, ensuring that our river always has what it needs to sustain life and the river ecosystem.  And if terms are ever not respected, we will have to challenge again.

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Government administrations will eventually change, Water Commission membership will eventually change. The agricultural water users as well. Our next generation inherits the river's legacy. 

 

It is up to us, the families and communities that live with the river, to ensure that regardless of change, the river flows forever.

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Our kuleana for the river is lifelong.  

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Mahalo.

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