Dozens of Hawaii farmers and ranchers, as well as electrical utilities, likely will be able to continue tapping public water from streams and wells after the end of this year following a long-awaited decision Tuesday by the Intermediate Court of Appeals that helps clarify a legal and regulatory quagmire that gripped the attention of the Legislature this year.

The agricultural and energy interests were facing an end-of-the-year deadline to convert their short-term revocable water permits to long-term leases or have their water cut off. But the court decision appears to clarify that the Board of Land and Natural Resources does have the authority to continue renewing temporary permits beyond the end of this year.

The ruling was narrowly focused on a lawsuit brought by clients of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. against Alexander & Baldwin relating to the company’s diversion of East Maui stream water. But attorneys for the state have maintained that the legal case has implications for all water users who are required to obtain permits to use public water resources.

“This may take the immediate pressure off our farmers and utilities as long as they can meet the requirements of the statute,” the Department of Land and Natural Resources said in an emailed statement. “Many would have had a hard time completing the water lease process by the December 2019 expiration of their water permits.”

Among those relying on the short-term permits are Kuahiwi Ranch, East Kauai Users Cooperative, Hawaii Electric Light Co., Kapalala Ranch, Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, Jeffrey Linder, Edmund Olsen Trustee and Wood Valley Water & Farm Cooperative.

They’re still expected to comply with requirements for obtaining long-term leases, including conducting environmental reviews, watershed management plans and consulting with Native Hawaiian beneficiaries as to potential water needs. The water also must be appraised for cost, and many of the leases must be awarded through a public auction process. But state officials say the ruling appears to relieve the time pressure to complete this process by the end of the year.

Summer Sylva, an attorney for the Native Legal Hawaiian Corp., said the decision by a panel of three judges, while clarifying issues for farmers and the utilities, doesn’t resolve their case against Alexander & Baldwin.

“In our estimation nobody prevailed,” said Sylva, adding that the case has been punted back to the trial court.

The appeals court ruled that the circuit court erred in issuing a summary judgment in 2016 that invalidated A&B’s water permits on the basis that extending the permits for years defied the meaning of temporary.

A&B’s four revocable water permits date back to 2000.

The appeals court said Tuesday that the circuit court needed to further deliberate as to whether the permits issued to A&B constituted a temporary or de facto indefinite use, as well as whether the permits served the best interest of the state.

The Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. likely will appeal the ruling to the Hawaii Supreme Court, said Sylva. She said the NHLC disagrees, in particular, with the finding that the state’s environmental review process wasn’t triggered by Alexander & Baldwin’s water permits.

The court’s “separate conclusion that our state’s environmental laws do not protect 33,000 acres of state lands and dozens of East Maui streams diverted for commercial profit, however, holds no water and no justice,” said Sylva in an emailed statement.

ON THE MOVE

Outrigger Hospitality Group has appointed Sheryl Tsugawa as general manager of Ohana Waikiki Malia by Outrigger. Her responsibilities include leading all aspects of the property, including financial performance, sales, customer service and host engagement. Tsugawa previously served as an assistant general manager at Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort and assistant general manager at the Outrigger-­managed Embassy Suites by Hilton Waikiki Beach Walk.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II has appointed Sheri-Ann Daniels, an executive director of Papa Ola Lokahi, to serve a four-year term at the Office of Minority Health’s Advisory Committee on Minority Health. Daniels’ term took effect April 26; she is the first Native Hawaiian to serve on the committee since its formation in 1998.