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County purchase of private West Maui water systems framed as part of wildfire recovery plan
Summary
County staff said the acquisition supports consolidation recommended in the post‑wildfire Lahaina Long‑Term Recovery Plan and could improve redundancy for fire suppression and reliability across West Maui. Council members asked about capacity, sustainable yield and whether system interconnection could move water toward Lahaina.
County staff told the Water and Infrastructure Committee that the proposed acquisition of two West Maui private water systems is consistent with prior recovery recommendations to consolidate public and private systems in regions to improve service reliability.
Managing Director Josiah Nishita and Deputy Landgraf said stewardship of water systems was identified in the Lahaina Long‑Term Recovery Plan and informed the administration’s approach. Deputy Landgraf described interconnection goals and said that once systems are tied together the County would have more ability to move water between areas for redundancy and potentially for fire suppression. She noted constraints tied to state water‑use permits: "We have to meet the in‑stream flow standards" for stream diversions, and any expansion beyond permitted pumping would require Commission on Water Resource Management review.
Council members asked whether the systems have capacity to serve additional uses and whether reservoir and interconnection work would be cost‑prohibitive across the Pali; staff said some interconnections are feasible and that the West Side will be connected progressively as systems are acquired and tied together.
