I MANA I KA WAI: DHHL WATER LAW & ADVOCACY TRAININGS
Kapua Sproat, second row, right; Lehua Kinilau-Cano, back row fourth from left; Luʻukia Nākanelua, second row third from right, and Lan Nguyen far right, with DHHL beneficiaries at the Leeward Community College Waiʻanae Moku.
On Saturday, December 15, 2018, the I Mana I Ka Wai Water Law and Advocacy Training took place on the Leeward Coast of Oʻahu. The training marked the seventh of ten such trainings to be held statewide in partnership with the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (“DHHL”). Lehua Kinilau-Cano, Legislative Analyst for DHHL, welcomed attendees to the training. Professor Kapua Sproat and Post-J.D. Fellow Tereariʻi Chandler-ʻĪao introduced the relevant legal and cultural frameworks. Dr. Jonathan Likeke Scheuer shared insight into DHHL’s water policy, and Barry Usagawa, Water Resources Program Administrator for the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, gave a presentation on Freshwater in Waiʻanae. Law student Luʻukia Nākanelua concluded the training with a case study focused on Waiʻanae’s water issues. Over 30 people, including William Aila, Deputy Director of DHHL, attended the workshop at the new Leeward Community College Waiʻanae Moku in Maʻili. Attendees received information about the specific laws that protect DHHL water rights, traditional and customary Native Hawaiian practices, and other Public Trust purposes.