Water to be cleared for use in more areas of Lahaina | News, Sports, Jobs

The Lahaina Business Park (right) and neighborhoods along Komo Mai Street are shown on either side of Kahoma Stream. Maui County’s deputy director of water supply said Wednesday that unsafe water advisories are expected to be lifted for remaining businesses and homes in these areas by next week. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

By next week, areas such as the Lahaina Business Park and nearby properties along Komo Mai Street are expected to get the green light to fully use their water, a county official said Wednesday evening.

Once these sections — which are under Areas 3A and 3B in the county’s water service updates map — are cleared, the county will start working to lift the unsafe water advisory for Area 4, which includes the Lahaina Cannery Mall and Kahoma Village, Deputy Water Director James “Kimo” Landgraf said. Those areas are expected to be given the all clear in two to three weeks.

Landgraf told an audience at a disaster recovery community update meeting Wednesday evening at the Lahaina Civic Center that determining that water is safe involves a lot of testing, sampling, replacing of hydrants, repairing water mains and cutting and replacing service laterals.

“It’s a long process to get the water back so it is safe for people to drink,” he said.

Once Area 4 is cleared for use, Landgraf said they will work on getting water cleared for uses in the north and south areas of Lahaina.

So far Area 1, which includes parcels north of Kaniau Road, and Area 2, which covers some neighborhoods just below the Lahaina Bypass and north of Lahainaluna Road, have been cleared for all uses.

The rest of the fire-impacted areas are still under an unsafe water advisory, which was issued as a precautionary measure due to the unknown impacts of the Aug. 8 wildfires on the drinking water system in the areas of upper Kula and Lahaina. All of Kula has since been cleared.

Those under the advisory should not drink or boil their tap water in order to try and make it safe as this will not work, the county said. Customers in the advisory area are also advised to limit tap water use for hygiene purposes such as showers. Failure to follow the advisory could result in illness, the county has said.

The update is part of a monthlong series of meetings on Wednesdays at the Lahaina Civic Center to provide reentry updates, progress, schedule and common community questions. Similar update meetings in Kula began Thursday evening.

Others who gave updates during the Wednesday Lahaina meeting series included Environmental Management Director Shayne Agawa, who said they are looking at putting residences in Wahikuli under the county wastewater system once they are rebuilt, as the area currently uses cesspools.

“Right now, I think the timing is right,” he told the audience.

He said the county is in touch with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for assistance and that he couldn’t speak about the timing as the “heavy lifting” would fall on the EPA.

Agawa added that they will also hire staff to help them inspect 95,000 lineal feet of sewer line as they only have one van and one crew to do so now.

Darryl Oliveira, interim director of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, said at the meeting that the goal is to complete the reentry process for all residences in Lahaina by mid-December.

He said they are also still working on letting residents whose homes were not totally damaged return to their properties, although that also depends on water and sewer systems being functional.

Oliveira has been candid in past meetings about what he described as “hiccups” in the reentry process. On Nov. 8, he said he would do a better job at coordinating with agencies, as some residents said that Soiltac, a soil stabilizer, had recently been sprayed on their properties close to their reentry time, so debris was still wet when they went in.

Oliveira said that on Tuesday, residents in one zone were not allowed to reenter due to the windy weather.

“We don’t want to take any of you in there if the wind is so strong,” he said at Wednesday’s meeting. “Not only is it blowing up the ash, it’s blowing debris.”

* Staff Writer Melissa Tanji can be reached at .

: A map shows the neighborhoods in Zones 7B, 7C, 7D and 7E that will reopen to residents on Monday and Tuesday. Screenshot of MauiRecovers.org

: The Lahaina Business Park (right) and neighborhoods along Komo Mai Street are shown on either side of Kahoma Stream. Maui County’s deputy director of water supply said Wednesday that unsafe water advisories are expected to be lifted for remaining businesses and homes in these areas by next week. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo