The Harvard Law Review has published “Kānāwai From Ahi: Revitalizing The Hawai‘i Water Code in the Wake of the Maui Wildfires.” PDF

An excerpt:

Native Hawaiians have been skeptical of corporate landowners’ alleged concerns over disaster preparedness and characterization of traditional water rights. They blame the prioritization of corporate water interests, the privatization of water, and the harms of colonialism for the severity of the fires. And they worry that Lahaina’s destruction could be used to furtively pass “unpopular laws and policies” that prioritize commercial uses and exacerbate political inequality.
As Chandler-‘Īao’s box of water-permit applications illustrates, the Maui fires represent an inflection point for Hawaiian water law. But we did not arrive at this point overnight. Rather, the fires were the byproduct of a century of colonialism that imposed a resource-management regime that razed the environment and externalized its harms on kānaka maoli. Because of this legacy, Maui was “a ticking time bomb” for wildfires. When it is remembered that the ancient Hawaiian system of watershed management was sustainable before it was ravaged by colonialism, Maui’s current state is even more heart wrenching.