HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Hawaii Supreme Court has ruled that the state Board of Land and Natural Resources violated the state constitution when it denied a contested case hearing of East Maui water rights.

The unanimous decision upheld a claim by the Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter in a case from 2020.

“What’s at stake is streams, streams that are drained dry,” said Sierra Club attorney David Kimo Frankel. “What’s at stake is the public’s right to meaningfully participate when the Board of Land and Natural Resources makes decisions that affect streams.”

The Sierra Club asked the BLNR for a contested case hearing when the board renewed Alexander and Baldwin’s permit to divert water from East Maui streams to irrigate their crops. But the board turned down the request and only granted a p

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