WAILUKU — Na Wai Eha (the four waters) are known for their quality and quantity, but there are other sources of water for Central Maui. Like Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. Well 7.

At the contested case hearing over diversions from Na Wai Eha on Tuesday and Wednesday, the status of Well 7 came to center stage.

The harvest of water from Na Wai Eha — Waihe'e, Waiehu, 'Iao and Waikapu streams — is on the order of 50 million to 60 million gallons per day. Well 7 tapping the brackish lens on the edge of the 'Iao aquifer can produce more than 40 mgd all by itself.

The petitioners to the state Commission on Water Resource Management, who are seeking to have water restored to the streams, want to find other sources of water, which could be used by the major consumers — farmers — even if they might be more expensive.

Well 7 is one of 16 deep wells drilled by Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co.'s predecessors in the central isthmus of Maui as far back as the 19th century. It is the only one that can pump to fields that also draw on Na Wai Eha waters.

About 8,800 out of 35,000 acres are involved.

HC&S Senior Vice President Rick Volner Jr. was cross-examined by Office of Hawaiian Affairs attorney Pamela Bunn about how the plantation uses the water.

He explained that there are three pumps at Well 7 — two (A and B) deep underground, which can pump about 17 mgd each. That water can reach only about a tenth of the 8,800 acres. (It also can be sent to the Pu'unene Mill, which consumes a lot of water in washing cane.)

A third pump ("Charley") can move 14 mgd up to the HC&S Wai'ale Reservoir. From there, the water can flow by gravity or be pumped to many fields.

Under direct examination by HC&S attorney David Schulmeister, Volner explained why the area is so important to the plantation overall. More than 90 percent of seed cane is grown in this area.

Among the reasons, Volner said, are that the land is sandy and comparatively level. This allows equipment to enter the fields soon after a rain. The seed cane is cut as needed for replanting. The plantation cannot store it.

The 1,625 acres used for seed are also comparatively free of rocks, which is important for the rubber-tired equipment used by the cane cutters.

By comparison, he said harvesting cane for the mill is a "brutal" operation handled by heavier bulldozers.

Reliable supplies of water are crucial. East Maui Irrigation Co. Manager Garret Hew testified Tuesday that "HC&S is always a water-short company." Volner testified that deciding which fields get water in short periods is the first thing he does each day as manager of agricultural operations.

Newly planted fields are a top priority, and seed cane fields also rank high.

Hew, who is also manager of the Pa'ia farm (one of four on the plantation) said, "We move it around, so that everybody has a cup of water rather than somebody getting the whole quart."