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Maui Elections 2026

Issues

Water

Public trust stewardship, aging pipes, Upcountry capacity, and cultural water rights — and what each leading candidate says is failing and what should change.

All major candidates treat public water stewardship as a priority. Differences are about ownership models, infrastructure investment sequencing, and how cultural rights are respected in practice.

Use the cards below for each candidate’s framing.

Where leading candidates stand

  • Richard T. Bissen Jr.

    Water as public trust

    How they frame the problem

    Maui’s water systems have long been fragmented between private and public control, leaving residents vulnerable on supply, allocation, and cultural rights. Public trust — not private franchise — should govern how water is held and delivered.

    What they say should happen

    Bring water systems under public ownership; treat water as a public-trust responsibility alongside housing and recovery; keep county stewardship aligned with Hawaiian cultural and community obligations.

    Summarized from administration platform pillars and public statements in the research brief.

  • Yuki Lei Sugimura

    Pipes before policy

    How they frame the problem

    Water failures show up as broken infrastructure — aging pipes, insufficient capacity, and delivery systems that cannot support housing or growth. Policy slogans do not fill reservoirs or clear meter waitlists.

    What they say should happen

    Fund and sequence water infrastructure as part of “pipes, permits, and pavement” so housing, recovery, and economic development have the physical capacity to proceed.

    Summarized from council record and campaign framing in local coverage and the research brief.

  • P. Denise La Costa

    WHEN + Upcountry capacity

    How they frame the problem

    Upcountry and island-wide water delays are an infrastructure and workforce emergency — meter waitlists without dated milestones, under-delivered DWS capacity, and county vacancies (campaign cites 622) that leave systems understaffed.

    What they say should happen

    Accelerate the DWS Upcountry capacity program; publish a dated meter waitlist milestone schedule; treat vacancies as an infrastructure emergency with a 60-day workforce audit (La Costa Cures / WHEN — Water, Housing, Economy, New Procedures).

    Campaign positions from mayorlacosta2026.com/la-costa-cures. Vacancy and milestone figures are campaign claims.