The County of Maui issued a press release today indicating that they will be releasing water meters in the Upcountry and Haiku areas of Maui. The county had not released meters for some time as they lacked sufficient infrastructure to provide the additional water. That has changed after purchasing a new water source that generates up to 33,000 gallons of water per day.
The county will be contacting participants on the priority water meter list in January to notify them if they have an opportunity to apply for a new meter. The current water meter priority list has well over 1,000 people who have applied. At this point, it is not clear how many people on the list will have the opportunity to apply based on the additional county water capacity. Applicants on the list who are contacted by the county have 30 days to respond. If the applicant is not ready to establish service immediately, they have the option to reserve a meter for up to 5 years.
It will be interesting to see what effect if any this release of water meters has on the Upcountry and Haiku real estate markets. It will add value to properties that currently lack meters. However, there is the potential that it could bring more properties on the market as sellers take advantage of the additional value of having the meter. We will continue to monitor the water meter release over on The Maui Real Estate Blog. You can read the official county press release on the new water meters via the county website.
