Plumbing the depths of Maui’s housing shortage: Can small changes have a big impact?

Maui County’s water-fixture-unit regulations and related fees have not been updated since 1995 and are at least partially responsible for driving up costs for building much-needed housing, according to a policy brief by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

Maui County Department of Water Supply Director John Stufflebean said: “We are aware of this issue and are addressing it in conjunction with our major overhaul of the county code and our administrative procedures.”

The Water Department’s proposed recommendations will be brought to the Maui County Council in a couple of months, he said. Water-fixture regulations and fees are primarily aimed at keeping track of and managing water demand. “Ideally, fees cover the related costs,” Stufflebean said in an email Tuesday.

“This is a major effort and at this point, it is in progress,” he added.

According to researchers at the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, small changes to Maui County’s plumbing regulations could have a big impact in easing Maui’s housing shortage, especially after last year’s wildfires destroyed thousands of homes and left many more thousands displaced. Grassroot researchers Jonathan Helton and Aaron Lief wrote the brief, titled “How fixes to Maui’s water-fixture policy could ease its housing crisis.”

Grassroot President and Chief Executive Officer Keli‘i Akina said the institute previously identified zoning, permitting, taxation and fees among the barriers to homebuilding. “But one of the most interesting — and somewhat obscure — issues our researchers have encountered is how water-fixture regulations are stifling housing growth in Maui County,” he said.

Water fixtures include kitchen sinks, toilets, showers and washing machines. Based on an estimate of the volume of water use for each fixture, the county assigns each fixture a score. That score is measured in water-fixture units, and it sets the maximum number of fixtures allowed per water meter, which the county charges to install.

“If calculated properly, the water-fixture units assigned should align closely with the physical capacities of the water meters,” the report says. “However, this doesn’t seem to be the case with Maui County.”

For instance, the Uniform Plumbing Code of the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials rates an outdoor water faucet, officially known as a “hose bib,” at 2.5 fixture units, with each additional bib at 1 fixture unit. Maui County, on the other hand, rates all hose bibs at 3 fixture units.

Additionally, the Uniform Plumbing Code assigns dishwashers a lower score than toilets, whereas Maui County does the opposite.

“Policymakers should prioritize updating or eliminating the county’s water-fixture-unit requirements and related fees, which are the highest in the state,” the report says. “County policymakers also should consider transferring ownership and management of water meters to homeowners, which would encourage homeowners to use their water appliances more efficiently.”

According to the report, some Upcountry residents have been waiting for water meters for more than 20 years.

“Maui had a housing problem prior to the August 2023 wildfires, which destroyed about 3,000 homes,” the report says. “Now that it needs even more new housing, the county’s existing fixture-unit rules stand as a greater roadblock.”