“We can share it, but it requires true conversations about equity…”
As the death toll continues to mount on Maui following the United States' deadliest wildfire in the last 100 years, investigators continue to examine how human error may have contributed to the calamity.
Maui officials have received withering criticism for days for not using warning sirens on Aug. 8 to alert the residents as flames spread across the countryside at 60 miles per hour. More recently, another fateful decision that day by M. Kaleo Manuel of the Hawaii Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM) – made shortly after first responders reported the fire contained – has come under scrutiny.
Under Manuel's direction, CWRM prevented firefighters from diverting water from the West Maui stream to refill reservoirs after they had contained the blaze threatening the town of Lāhainā. Power outages and uncooperative weather conditions prompted firefighters to request fetching water from the stream at 9 a.m. so they could have as much as possible if conditions further deteriorated.
Instead, they didn't receive the authority to use stream water for fire control until 6 p.m. – hours after extreme winds turned the once-contained blaze into an out-of-control inferno. CWRM wanted to ensure farmers downstream weren't affected by changes to their water supply. The decision seems to come mainly from Manuel's ideology that intertwines social justice and water security until the two become inseparable. (RELATED: Biden Silent When Asked About Deadliest US Wildfires In 100 Years)
An unearthed clip of Manuel circulating on social media shows him discussing water equity.
“We can share it, but it requires true conversations about equity,” Manuel says at one point. Now, critics are saying his decision to wait hours to hear back from downriver users of the West Maui stream before firefighters could access its life-saving water turned what might have been a disaster into a catastrophe. (RELATED: Evacuation Orders Given To Entire Capital City As Wildfires Approach)
As of this article's publication, last week's fires have killed at least 111 people on Maui. Some 1,300 remain missing.
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….charge the man with murder…
Why??
Explain
Under whose order?
I guess his house isn’t burning down as he reveres water! JMO
What they should have done is taken what water was needed then work out the consequences later. Lives are more important than water usage rules.
“We can share it, but it requires true conversations… (In the meantime because time is of the essence – burn baby burn)
Mr. Manuel by his own words in the video defaults the “Criminal Wilful Blindness”
He needs to be prosecuted and face life in prison owinf to the manslaughter’s he aided and abetted amongst otherwise help[less men women and children.
This clown sounds like he got his education at UC Berkeley. He gets so wrapped up in liberal nonsense that he lets a town burn and hundreds of people die. I wonder how O’hutu, the water god, feels about the deaths. At least Kaulua, the smoke god, was probably pleased.