The Hawaiian gazette., 1895-12-27
OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUDD, C. ]

OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUDD, C. J
This is n suit brought before Henry
Dickinson, Esq, Special Commits
sioner of Water Rights for the District
of Lahaiua, Maui, alleging a couIrO-
versy between plaintiffs and defend
ants in respect TO the amount of water,
method aud time OF its use upon lands
owned or held by both parties The
water in question flows from its
sources at the head through deep
VALLEY called kauaula, situated in the
rear of the town of Lahaiua. Tue eu-
tire stream is taken up and used upon
land in the valley on both sides of the
stream for irrigating crops of kalo and
on the flats below for sugar cane
Except on occasions OF freshets none
OF the water is wasted by running iuto
the sea. This region was formerly
thickly populated, and the kuleanas
granted To natives by the Land Com
mission within and outside of the
valley are numerous. The plaintiffs
own the extensive sugar plantation
which occupies a large portion of the
old town of Lah.iua They have
acquired q large number of the ahu-
puaas which, though small in area are
very numerous in the district of La
haina They have also acquired by
purchase and by lease many kuieanas.
A list of all the lands, ahupuaas, ills
and kuleanas under the water system
of the kauaula stream, a awarded by
the Laud Commission. is given in the
complaint, and a separate list of the
lands owned or held by the pla ntiffs
is also given. 1t was evident to US
from al inspection of this territory
that large number of kalo patches
formerly in cultivation and irrigated
from the stream of kauaula were dis
used and were grass grown, but il Wa
impossible from simple inspection TO
ascertain bow long ago their disuse
bad begun. Doubtless many of them are
owned by plaintiffs and the water TO
which they Were entitled is used upon
their cane fields below. From the
testimony We gather that goOdly
number of other kalo patches had
been abandoned by their native
owner~, some through dissemination
TO work them and Others through iu
ability 10 get sufficient quantity of
water to cultivate them profitably.
Doubtless the stream itself has dimin-
ished somewhat in quantity during
the last half century from reasons that |
are coujectural. Mr.. James Camp |
bell says that the freshets or storm |
waters which every one could Use at |
will to I'LL all their patches are much |
less frequent now than when he was a
resident OF LahsIna FROM 1851 10 1875. |
The plaintiff claim and We fiud 1t |
established by the evidence, that the
ancient method OF dividing aud dis
tributing the water of Kausula stream
was by length of time of use. Gen
orally the stupusss or ills Of land OF a
certain name situated on the level 1
land below or "makain has laud,
mainly kslo patches, in the valley
above or ''mauka'' bearing the same
name. One or two lands makai have
10 Counterpart mauka, aud at least
one land mauka has no counterpart
makai. These manka kalo pate e.
are similar TO the "leles" or outlying
portions of an ahupuas, well known.
on other islands of this group as
"leles" though as g rule they seem
not TO be 80 called in LshsIus. In
order to irrigate these lands small
bitches or auwsis Were dug in very
ancient times, through which the
water was led from the main stresm
on to the lands. On the ksanapali or
western side there are three main
auwais, the first one nearest to the
head Of the valley is "Piilani," then
below il is "Waimana," then "Puu
huliliole." On the Olowalu or east
ern side are, first, "Puupapai," then
"MuliwaIkape." There are numbers
of other auwais of much lesser length
which start from the stream, irrigate
q few patches and then turn into the
stream. The ahupuaas and ills In
this part of Lshains were divided into
two principal divisions each coDtain-
ing eleven lands. In order to make
the division even, a few lesser ahu-
pusss were bracketed in pairs and
treated as Ole land, and have one
"wster day" Divis. yne, for exam
pie, had the watt firing the day, |
and Division two s.dfing the night,
the day being from O'Clock A. NJ to
5 o'clock Pm and the night being the
remainder of the twenty-four hours.
While during eleven consecutive days |
the lands in Division one were having
the water in rotation according to an
arranged schedule during the day, the
lands in Division two were having IL
At night Then, when the last land
In each division had been watered, .