The Maui County Council passed on first reading a bill authorizing a deal with the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to build three water wells in Waiʻōhuli, potentially yielding up to 1.728 million gallons per day. The six-year project has drawn scrutiny over whether water will actually reach Hawaiian Home Lands beneficiaries or be routed elsewhere.
- Bill 97 would allow the county and state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to jointly develop three wells, a storage tank, and a transmission pipeline in Waiʻōhuli.
- The wells are projected to supply water for roughly 2,880 Native Hawaiian beneficiary homes, with all operating capacity reserved for Hawaiian Home Lands use.
- The county would issue water meters for up to 40% of the department’s needed water once well development begins, with fees reimbursed after well completion.
- A community member raised concerns that the pipeline map shows water flowing toward Kīhei’s Lipoa Research & Technology Park rather than to Waiʻōhuli homelands, potentially violating Upcountry Community Plan water-export restrictions.
- A lawsuit challenging the agreement was flagged as a possibility by a former community plan advisory committee official.
Source: Maui Now
Share this article
