By improving fire flow capacity of the water system, this project will improve public safety and support the County’s Department of Water Supply in fulfilling its core mission of reliably delivering safe potable water for generations. This project will immediately benefit Lahaina in the long-term recovery process and protect the community from future wildfire events. The Maui Fire Chief’s Wildfire After-action Report dated 4/18/2024 recommended that recovery efforts include increasing the Lahaina water system’s ability to meet fire flow requirements.

This project will update the capacity of water infrastructure in Lahaina by improving pipeline and facility deficiencies to meet current hydraulic criteria to address low fire flow residual pressures in the water system. The County’s Department of Water Supply identified the most critical capacity deficiencies in the water system to be insufficient storage and undersized waterlines. Priority projects to mitigate deficiencies include:

1. Construction of a new 1.7-million-gallon water storage tank to increase Lahaina’s water system’s storage from 4.4 million gallons to 6.1 million gallons
2. Small-diameter pipeline upgrades to correct hydraulic deficiencies and improve fire flow
3. North-south transmission main upgrades to improve the conveyance of water from north of the Lahaina system to south of the system