The State Just Cracked Down On This West Maui Water Company 0 Olowalu Water Co. was accused of taking more water than it was allowed from a stream, a rule that’s aimed at protecting fragile natural ecosystems.
In what was one of the largest proposed fines in the recent history of Hawaii’s Commission on Water Resource Management, state officials are ordering a private water company in West Maui to make an estimated half-million dollars worth of repairs and improvements as punishment for taking too much water out of a stream.
Olowalu Water Co. is a privately owned water company tied to West Maui Land Co., a real estate firm run by developer Peter Martin that’s bought up swaths of former plantation lands and their century-old water systems to pave the way for development in West Maui.
The commission said Olowalu Water is a repeat violator of the state’s water rules, which in part is why earlier this year the state proposed slapping the company with a $470,000 fine for drawing more water than it was allowed from Olowalu Stream for more than 550 days since 2019.
