Water and power in Hawai'i: The Waiahole Water Case and the future of the islands

This dissertation examines the Waiāhole Water Case, a battle before the Hawai'i Commission on Water Resource Management and Hawaii's Supreme Court. The court expanded on the Commission ruling, mandating some water be returned from a leeward sugar cane irrigation system and delivered to windward streams and communities the system had depleted. The battle pitted a politically weak coalition, the windward parties, against some of the largest and most powerful entities in the state of Hawai'i, allied as the leeward parties. Despite the differences in power between the sides, the windward parties had some success. The dissertation addresses two questions. How did the windward parties succeed in having water returned to windward streams? What are the implications of this case for Hawai'i?;Following a prologue and introduction, the dissertation reviews the historical context of the case. The history of the case is then described, and alternative but incomplete explanations of the windward victory are addressed. Subsequently it lays out the theoretical basis of its analysis, the theory of the social construction of target populations and knowledge. This theory contends that policy decisions are sometimes determined by not just the power of competing interests but also the degree to which policy makers view groups as deserving or undeserving. The theory also asserts scientific knowledge is used in policy both to thwart and justify the outcomes derived from the dynamics of power and social construction. In this case the theory is modified by examining portrayals—the observable, value-laden representations of individuals, groups or ideas in a given policy battle, made by anyone involved in that battle, in order to justify an outcome.;The dissertation applies the theory to the Waiāhole Water Case by examining how the windward and leeward parties used power, portrayals and science to debate the central issues of the case: the future of agriculture, the rights of Hawaiians, and the protection of the environment. The way these arguments were treated by policy makers and how that affected the final outcome is then examined. The dissertation concludes with an exploration of the consequences of this case for Hawai'i.