A Molokai community group is challenging stream water diversions by Molokai Ranch, which ceased most operations more than a decade ago.

Molokai No ka Heke filed a complaint petition Monday with the state Commission on Water Resource Management alleging that diversions to four streams on the island are unjustified because Molokai Ranch has largely shut down.

The petition, prepared for the group by environmental law firm Earthjustice, seeks to restore natural water flows to Kawela, Kaunakakai, Manawainui and Waikolu streams that originate in the mountains and flow to south and north shores.

Earthjustice said the ranch, which is owned by a Singaporean-based company now known as GL Ltd., shouldn’t continue to divert water that it historically diverted for uses on the western side of the island where it ceased resort and ranching activities in 2008.

The petition also said that the ranch overstated its water needs in the 1990s and that those needs have been “practically nonexistent” since the 2008 shutdown.

“Molokai Ranch has been taking water from these streams for far too long with no accountability to the needs and rights of the aina (land) and the people of the island,” Earthjustice attorney Mahesh Cleveland said in a statement. “It’s time to return these waters to their natural flow, and for the ranch to remove or remediate its diversion dams. We are committed to helping the people of Molokai safeguard their water resources and the ecosystems that depend on them, now and for the future.”

Members of the community group said the streams affect groundwater aquifers, stream life, shoreline fishponds and ocean life including the reef and limu, or seaweed.

“Returning the water to Kawela ahupuaa (mountain-to-sea land division) will bring back life that it once had before,” Molokai No ka Heke member and Kawela resident Lohiao Paoa said in a statement.

Added Walter Ritte, another group member and longtime Molokai activist who has long fought the ranch over water use, “Molokai Ranch has shut down most of its operations and has put the ranch up for sale and cannot justify the need for these diversions.”

Todd Svetin, Molokai Ranch general manger, said he had not seen the filing. “We have just heard about this and do not have any details at this time. We are therefore unable to comment,” he said.

Molokai Ranch owns 54,000 acres on the Friendly Isle, or about a third of the island.

Two years ago GL offered its Molokai property for sale with a $260 million asking price. The company said in its most recent annual report, filed in October, that the effort is ongoing.

The petition said Molokai Ranch ceased filing stream diversion reports with the state 13 years ago but recently resumed filing such reports despite having little or no actual use for the diverted water.

“The Ranch must be compelled to show that any diverted stream flows are being put to reasonable- beneficial use, and to immediately cease and prevent any waste,” the petition said.