The Maui News

Maui County Council Member Kelly Takaya King is proposing to include funding in the county’s fiscal year 2023 budget for a new Maalaea Regional Wastewater Reclamation System.

If approved, the proposed funding of up to $9.5 million will be used to construct a wastewater treatment facility for the Maalaea community, which currently relies on 24 outdated injection wells, according to a news release from King on Wednesday.

“I have been working with the Maalaea community for years to find a solution to their wastewater problems and outdated injection well systems,” King said. “As we saw with the recent Supreme Court case regarding the injection wells, there is a known connection between what we inject into the ground and what appears in our ocean water. Solutions are needed now to protect and restore our precious marine ecosystem and resources.”

Maalaea Small Boat Harbor and Maalaea Beach are currently on the state’s list of impaired bodies of water, meaning that an applicable water quality standard is not being attained, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website.

A 2019 feasibility study found that sending wastewater from Maalaea to a planned county wastewater facility in Waikapu could cost $10.8 million, according to the news release.

“This regional solution, which is modular and can be scaled, is more efficient and less centralized, while treating the water to a reusable standard so it can be recycled,” King said. “The wastewater will not have to be pumped over extreme distances, and the treated effluent will be used for crops, irrigation and firebreaks in the community.”

If the county decides to fund, own and operate the facility, it can qualify for Clean Water State Revolving Funds, which could provide a zero-to-low-interest loan for the full cost of the facility, the news release said.

The council’s Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee began review of the mayor’s proposed billion-dollar budget earlier this week. The council has until June 10 to pass the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1.