#olowalu

A van was destroyed by fire during an incident reported Tuesday morning along the Honoapiʻilani Highway in Olowalu. The incident was reported at 6:38 a.m. on Sept. 1, 2026 in the area known as “Cut Mountain.”

Maui County Council members authorized the Department of Water Supply Tuesday to spend up to $6 million to acquire two privately owned West Maui water systems. But the vote came only after more than 15 minutes of discussion to clarify what Council Vice Chair Yuki Lei Sugimura meant when she said the deal provided only “part of the story, but not all.”

The $3 million Olowalu Fire Station project was fully funded until the Canadian company supplying the modular building for the station was hit with 50% steel tariffs by the U.S. last year.

A Maui County Council committee voted 7-1 Tuesday to recommend adoption of a resolution authorizing the county to spend up to $6 million to acquire two privately owned West Maui water systems.

The research team discovered that 25 contaminants from agricultural, industrial and pharmaceutical sources accumulated in the soft tissues of coral around Maui. Additionally, in areas impacted by human activities, the energy and nutrient availability within the coral’s tissue decreases, making them significantly less resilient to environmental stressors such as warmer or acidic waters.

Maui Cancer Resources is accepting registrations through July 25 for its first Camp for Cancer Recovery, a free weekend retreat for adults currently undergoing cancer treatment.

If the proposals are successful, water systems in West Maui, including both drinking and irrigation, will transition from 25% to 65% publicly owned. More importantly, public stewardship of drinking water systems in West Maui will increase from 45% to 93%, representing a major step toward ensuring this essential resource is managed in the public trust, according to county officials.

Residents will get their first look at conceptual landscape designs for adapting the Olowalu-Ukumehame coastline to sea-level rise during a hybrid presentation July 9 at the Maui Ocean Center Sphere in Māʻalaea.

Olowalu Water Company wants to increase annual revenues by 325%, which residents say would make it nearly impossible to afford water for farming.

In his address, he highlighted Maui County’s continued progress across housing, recovery, well-being and economic stability, while outlining actions to strengthen communities and build a resilient future.

The state Department of Transportation will be conducting road work this week that will result in lane closures at various locations. Lane closure schedules may change at any time without further notice. All projects are weather permitting.

Crews will be removing a boulder caught in the protective netting and also performing rock scaling and other rock removal work from 9 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 20 to 4:30 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 21. The work will be between mileposts 10.45 to 10.55 on the Lahaina side of the Olowalu Tunnel, also known as the “Pali Tunnel.” The road will be intermittently closed in both directions for up to 10 minutes.

USACE led the major operation requiring clearance of roughly 400,000 tons of wildfire debris. Debris transfer to the temporary Olowalu site, adjacent to a former landfill, from the devastating 2023 wildfires began in January 2024. The transfer from the TDS to the Permanent Disposal Site in Central Maui began June 16, 2025.

The debris call center has closed and infrastructure at the Temporary Debris Storage site has been removed – marking distinct chapters in the ongoing recovery efforts after the 2023 wildfires.

Maui residents are invited to review and provide feedback on landscape design proposals for the Ukumehame and Olowalu coastal corridor, as three upcoming meetings look to conclude nearly a year of community input on the project.

With the transportation of debris from the Lahaina fire to its permanent site in Central Maui nearing completion, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun preparations to restore the land used for the temporary debris location in Olowalu.

The one-lane closure will be near mile marker 14 and is scheduled for two nights Tuesday, Sept. 23 and Wednesday, Sept. 24. Work will begin both nights at 8:30 p.m. and will last until 3:30 the next morning, with the last closure ending on Thursday, Sept. 25.

Information on restoration plans for the Olowalu site used for temporary storage of wildfire debris will be shared at an open house on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Lahaina Resource Center.

In 2018, an invertebrate biologist discovered an unfamiliar black caterpillar feeding on a māmaki plant in Olowalu Valley. Experts confirmed the caterpillar was ramie moth, a species native to Southeast Asia that aggressively feeds on plants in the nettle family, like māmaki. The biologist’s sighting marked the first confirmation of ramie moth in Hawaiʻi and the US.

The West Maui Temporary Debris Storage (TDS) site environmental monitoring quarterly report for the sixth 90-day operational period shows the findings from sampling and monitoring are in compliance with county, state and federal environmental regulations.