Home

Below is a copy of the original home webpage of www.umla.ws before my blog scope

(i.e., allowed number of pages) was reduced to cut cost.

UMLA Is Dedicated to Elimination of the Upcountry Water Meter List"
(Meaning Meters Granted On Request to Those With Proper Zoning. Meaning stop using water meters to halt Upcountry development. This approach is divisive, unfair and possibily illegal. Use Zoning instead. See why here.

7/16/15: Link to the June 30, 2015 Priority List by TMK or Priority Number. These Lists have changed from the June 30, 2014 Lists as parcels have had their meters reserved or been deleted. There are 1790 parcels on the 2015 List - down from 1852. Parcel #598 in 2014 is now 536 in the 2015 List. County policy uses the List to limit Upcountry growth rate to 1%/ year. Parcels will be removed at that rate until further Council action.

6/17/15: Link to the WRC testimony regarding a Bill for the exemption of three lots or less from fire protection subdivision requirements by your UMLA Founder. A second chance for those removed from the List had great support in the Council. Chair Baisa's bill was also well received but was sent back to staff for further review.

1/10/15: Link to the Priority Lists by TMK (2014) or by Priority Number (2013). These Lists have changed from the December 2012 Lists as parcels have had their meter reserved or been deleted. Currently #36 of the 2014 list is being served. 76 letters have been sent so far since meter awards were begun after List closure on 12/31/2012. Priority Numbers at the beginning of the June 30 2014 List have advanced by 52 from the June 30 2012 List. This low rate of parcel advancement is constant with my slow growth estimate of 30 new names per year given in my page: "Smoking Gun". (Some of UMLA page links to the County lists have been changed by the County and are now invalid.)

1/10/15: Congratulations to Kyle Yamashita for election as District 12 Representative. He won with ~78% of the vote to my 20%. My page of essays and positions from the 2014 election is found on link: "UMLA Political".
6/4/14: Your UMLA Founder, Richard H. Pohle has filed for the House District 12 seat as a Republican. One of my priorities will be to obtain funding to upgrade the Upcountry DWS infrastructure so as to survive a long drought. More on this campaign later. My positions outlined in the 2012 Upcountry Council race may be found on the Campaign 2012 page.

6/4/14: Link to or open the UMLA response to Director Taylor's letter noted in 5/1/14. Link to the annotated "Smoking Gun" chart mentioned in that response. Questions for the DWS: Why is 100% of List demand double current usage? Previously, UMLA thought the 2012 List would add only about 25%. Is it the ~450 new List members added in a rush at the end of 2012 when the list was closed? Why does an Upcountry meter cost $75,000 each to provide proper infrastructure for. Is it because of the cost of meeting Fire Flow requirements? Is it for water distribution? Is it the cost for new infrastructure to pump water uphill during a long drought? Is it the cost of new wells? If the Upcountry system can't survive on ground water alone, then, during a long drought, you have said that Upper Kula will be without water and its lines will be contaminated. Is that really the case? The County has kept the new meter fee at $6K. Won't that impact your ability to issue new meters? FYI, DWS expects to issue about 25 letters/month until they run out of "New Water" from Pookela and H'Poko wells.
5/22/14: Link to DWS graph used by UMLA in the 5/14/14 Council presentation regarding MIP implementation. Unless Council provides direction to DWS, there will be no new wells until 2023. Direction Taylor has told the Council this. Planned growth is 1.2% per year and the $100M earmarked by the MIP for water infrastructure will not count for "New Water" if no new wells are drilled.
5/1/14: Link to Director Taylor's response to the UMLA "Smoking Gun" page. We publish it without comment and solicit your email comments to umla@umla.ws.

4/27/14: The Maui Island Plan (MIP), adopted on 12/28/14, has ended hope for new Upcountry meters without further Council action to grandfather in meter requests from the Upcountry Meter List. Link to the "Smoking Gun" page containing the DWS Chart#36 and the discussion proving this point.4/16/14: Link to UMLA testimony before the Budget and Finance Committee at 6:00 pm on 4/15/14. Link to or download a 2.7 MB briefing named "Water Department Management Update" also found on the DWS home page. In this, Director Taylor presents an overview of reasons the water rates are rising and various rate options. He often makes these type of presentations but I never see Council actually choosing one of his options in open session. One outstanding chart showed that new Upcountry meters should cost $75,000 each as compared to $9,000 for one in Central Maui. We are investigating. You will notice that 100% of the Meter List is never serviced as we have said many times (see 2/14/14 entry). There are not enough wells. The reason for this is the limitation of the allowed growth set forth in the Maui Isand Plan Growth - not water availability. So all our testimony before Council pleading for our meters is in vain.

4/10/14: Link to UMLA testimony before the Budget and Finance Committee. Mayor wants to increase the budget by 12% and tax rates by 6.5%. Many deserving programs asked for funds. UMLA said "We are taxed enough already".

4/4/14: Link to the Maui News report that Upcountry meters are being issued. You will have thirty days to respond to your invitation letter with your payment. You will loose your fee if you cannot meet the requirements in your invitation letter including expensive Fire Flow upgrades to the County system. The first 235 names on the List are grandfathered into pay a non-refundable fee of ~$3K/meter. Thereafter, the fee is ~$12K and increases by $2K/year (unless Council reduces the fee because of hardship). Applicants are not grandfathered in to the rate in effect at the date of their application. Each letter must be individually researched and carefully written since it is a legal document that sets precedent. Only two DWS staff are available. UMLA expects that only about 200 letters will be issued this year. By 2016, the 600th name will be called. We shall see.

3/25-26/14: Link to the 3/21/14 front page article of the Maui News entitled "Panel backing bill that offers reprieve from water fee hike". It contains the following quote: "On Wednesday, Water Supply Director Dave Taylor said his department will be ready to begin issuing water meters next week.". That would be now.

2/25/14: Here is the pertinent quote from the State of the County Address (link is at bottom) delivered on 2/4/14 by Mayor Arakawa. "Besides fixing our roads, we continue to rebuild and improve our water system. Water in Maui County is one of our most valuable resources, and we must use it as efficiently as possible. Our administration has worked closely with the County Council over the last three years to redefine our needs and the resources required to meet future water demands. We are already moving forward with dozens of projects which will replace our aging water infrastructure and allow us to meet the community’s needs for decades to come. There are new wells being developed in Central and West Maui. The reconstruction of Waikamoi Flume serving the Upcountry area is about 50 percent complete. We expect to begin the process of issuing hundreds of meters for the Upcountry area in the next few weeks. It will take several months to work our way through these applicants, but real progress is worth the effort. Everyone knows that we have always had water issues in Maui County. We have accomplished much towards resolving these issues and we aren’t going to slow down." There are 1850 names (4000 meters) on the meter List and only a few hundred meters will be issued in a few months despite earlier promises. There are no new wells for Upcountry even though the state will start one in Pukalani for their own uses and the Pokela Well can only serve half the List. DWS rejected the 1.7 Mgpd Piiholo South Well without explanation. The flume provides no new water.

Please read these pages for missed dates and other broken promises made to Upcountry by this mayor. As examples, during his 2010 campaign, Mayor Arakawa said he would:

Fast track water improvements and source development to reduce and eliminate water meter wait lists and prevent water from being used as a moratorium tool. {No new meters except to the 22 names from the 33,000 gpd released back to the County from a developer. None from DWS actions.}

Work with and support the development of affordable housing and housing in general so that families and future generations will be able to call Maui Nui home again. { How about the Kula Ridge development??}
Mayor Arakawa said: If members of his administration had more time in office, they would have eliminated the water meter lists in Upcountry. He also said that he tried to improve Upcountry water infrastructure but the Mayor blocked the funds. - Maui News 7/30/10: Corrected 8/11/10. {He has had 4 years.}
Link to what Mayor Elect Arakawa said on 11/19/10 in the Maui News. All Talk- No Walk. 1/28/14: Permission to link to the Maui News article referred to below received on 1/22/14.

1/18/14: While we wait for Maui News to respond to our request below, here are links to related stories in Maui Now and Maui Tomorrow. The DLNR recognizes the need for new water Upcountry and will drill the Pukalani Well for state purposes (e.g. Hawaiian Homelands) and give it to the County. But Maui County DWS starts no new wells and has rejected Piiholo South - an existing 1.7 Mg/d well. Even with Pookela Well on line, the current well systems will provide new water for only half of the Meter List. The DWS plans to use the cost of Fire Flow requirements to deny water to half of the parcels on the list.

1/14-15/14: A Maui News article by Lee Imada on 1/10/14 discusses a proposed 1 mgd well in Pukalani. I am requesting permission to republish this article from the Maui News.

12/28/13: Query: Any further news as to the date of issue and number of meter acceptance letters to be sent? Ans: No firm date yet. Pump/motor installation nearly complete at Hpoko. Hoping to begin issuing letters in January if all goes well.

Download the 0.9 MB minutes of the 11/13/13 WRC Meeting. Director Taylor comments show that the Upcountry Water system nearly failed above Makawao for lack of water. We need more supply (wells). Yet no new wells are in the plans.

11/14/13: Your UMLA Founder testified at the WRC meeting yesterday. I was the only testifier that agreed with the purpose of the bill: to encourage conservation by increasing rates during water shortages. Download my testimony. Discussions after public testimony largely agreed with my positions (except for the Piihoho South issue).

11/10/13: Why does the 1000 gpm specification disallow use of rural 6" pipes when it can be demonstrated that a 6" pipe can deliver 1000 gpm? The reason is the "Surge Pressure Allowance" referred to in Fire Flow Tables. DWS is afraid that the surge pressure, caused by the inertia of water flow, occuring if water flow is abruptly shut off will rupture the pipe. This pressure is 44% lower in 8" vs. 6" pipes because the water is moving slower for a given gpm in the 8" pipe. The Fire Dept. already turns the water off gradually - not abruptly. So surge pressure is not a reason to rip up all rural 6" lines. Save the money!

11/9/13: WRC Committee Mtg. Wednesday at 9:00am to discuss a Water Conservation Bill to increase water rates during declared water shortages. This bill is required by DWS to begin issuing meters. UMLA supports it and also agrees that meter prices should be raised to provide new Upcountry water (wells). But new users should NOT by themselves have to bring an entire neighborhood up to the new Fire Flow standards. Since all of the neighborhood benefits, they should also share the cost. Since 6" pipes can supply the required Fire Flow for rare emergencies (see Fire Flow Tables) in-the-ground 6" pipes should be grandfathered in to satisfy the 1000 gpm requirement. This will save the County reimbursement funds. Private Fire Flow systems should be encouraged. DWS acceptable subdivision approval standards should be published.

1/8-9/13: The minimum fire flow requirement on Maui has been established by ordinance (MCC 14:05:090) at 500 gpm for Ag and 1000 gpm for Rural properties for 120 minutes. There are cases where your requirements may exceed this flow. Download the ISO Fire Flow Guide. Note especially Pgs 22-23 for sprinkler systems and Pg 24 for 1 and 2 family dwellings at various separations. Please also see our Fire Flow page.

10/28/13: Some UMLA members believe the cost of their meters has been grandfathered in at $3K or $6K - the cost when they applied for the meter. Not So! Meter cost is now $12K/meter and that cost will increase $2K/year until your meter letter arrives. Link to 2013 water system and meter rates (at end). Those on the List up to #235 who applied before 11/01/2001 are grandfathered in at $3K/meter to a maximum of 3 lots. Download Related Maui News Articles.

10/20/13: UMLA has found cases where Upcountry Meter List applications have been accepted but are not on the List as published. We recommend that you check the 2013 TMK List to see if your parcel is actually listed. If it is not, show your time stamped application receipt to the DWS and have your parcel added to the list. The requirement that the list be annually updated was repealed in Ordinance 3997. Be sure the DWS confirms your position on the List in writing.

10/18/13: This Link takes you to the Maui County parcel look up by TMK, etc. Follow directions in 7/20/13 entry below. TMK numbers will be displayed on all parcels if box on left is checked.
10/16/13: Link to the 2013 Meter Priority Lists by priority number and TMK with 1887 entries.
10/12/13: Recently, we were asked for the 2008 list. See below. Here is also a 2005 list by TMK from our archives. It is nearly the same as 2008. Compare to the 2012 Lists. Visit also the 7/24/12 entry on this page.

12/4/17: The new Meter List was published on 11/30/17. The 2017 list advanced parcel #515 to position #472 for an advance of 43 positions. Other List positions may have advanced at different rates due to dropout, etc. It is not clear how many meters were actually issued because the conditions required in the meter award letters were so expensive and unrealistic that many just gave up and were kicked off the list (examples are available). The county simply does not want Upcountry development and the public seems to support that view or is apathetic.

12/10/16: The new Meter List was published on 11/30/16. It is the same as the 2015 list except that the 27 new parcels noted below have been served. No other movement! My final testimony to the WRC on 9/17/16 is at the bottom of the page. This link has been recently changed to the 2017 list.

As of 10/8/16, DWS is still serving Parcel # 17B. FYI, in 2008. my parcel was 675. Today, it is 515 with 27 new parcels ahead of it for an advance of 133 places. The 4.69 acre lot on Makani advertising 16 houes and 16 cottages is # 456 on the 2015 List but apparently they have purchased meter rights from Dowling so there is no way to tell if the Meter List law is being violated. As of 7/27/2016, DWS is serving Parcel # 17B on the 11/30/2015 Meter List, an advance of 18 parcels in 8 months. So it is apparent that DWS is not issuing meters at all. Want to join a class action lawsuit? Write umla@umla.ws.

Find Number of water meters requested for the first 604 names on the List. Meter Requests for SD TMK.

4/29/16 The Maui News article of 4/14/16 and the County (Only 100 Meters / Year) budget show the Council is rationing meters by denying DWS needed funds and personnel to advance the Meter List by more than 100 names/year in line with the slower growth (1% Upcountry vs. 2% for Central) allowed in the Smoking Gun Chart. Two issues prevent subdivision of my 0.5 acre zoned, 3.47 acre parcel: meter rationing and arbitrary fire flow regulations (arbitrary as shown by the recent enactment of an exemption for 1 but not 2 meters from Fire Flow). As an old, poor farmer, at that rate, I will never see a DWS meter letter and, even if I did get a letter, for a 2 parcel subdivision, the Fire Flow cost would be $3.8M. To address these issues, if I were young and rich, I would:
1) For Fire Flow, apply for a swimming pool permit capable of 120,000 gallon storage (50'x40'x10') on your metered parcel. Construct it so that it can serve as a basement for a future home. Fill it with water from your existing 5/8th meter. This, a pump station, and if, necessary an electrical power source should solve the Fire Flow issue. If it does not find out why and be prepared to challenge it in appeal and in court.

2) To address the potable water issue, apply for a building permit using catchment on your properly zoned parcel. Build a potable water storage system (storage tanks, sprinklers) and demonstrate capability to provide sufficient water. For my parcel, truck delivery is possible since I am situated by a state road.
All of this will take time and money. If you are young and rich and wish to challenge the system, buy a share of my parcel. Go to www.zillow.com with the address 17100 Haleakala Hwy, 96790 to see the parcel description. My email is umla@umla.ws

4/26/16:To the person questioning the request for meters “Link # of Meter Requests for SD TMK “.
This list was taken directly from an email excel sheet sent to me from the DWS. I only adjusted the format. My original freedom of information request was for copies of the 600 actual meter request letters with SD (subdivision) in the label. I shortened it to the first 600 SDs on the list and was offered the excel sheet up to 604 which I accepted and published unchecked and unedited.

     Two examples were cited in your letter: # 21c on the 2015 list requesting 16 meters. TMK 2-3-02:005seems to be a ½ acre lot asyou show. Clearly this ½ acre parcel cannot have 16 meters. I question whether this is the parcel actual requesting the 16 meters. The TMK conversion rule specified on the county page is to add a zero after the second hyphen and 4 zeros at the end. However, there is no listing for 230020050000. This rule is followed in the adjacent SD and works. You added a fifth zero at the end required 12 digits to get 230200500000 which is ½ acre. DWS would not let any ½ acre parcel on the Meter List. Sometimes parcel numbers change with time for non water reasons. You have the wrong parcel.
     #29 on the 2015, TMK 2-7-08-021 requesting 14 meters is on the county site as 270080210000 as 4.03 acres (note the above conversion rule was followed). If it were ½ acre zoning, the parcel would be allowed 16 meters. The fact it is ag rated does not mean it is zoned ag. For zoning, you need to ask the zoning office. My own parcel is zoned half acre rural but dedicated to ag (and is a farm). It is ag rated.
    I hope you have your questions answered and feel free to communicate by email at umla@umla.ws .Thank you for your interest.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Welcome to the Upcountry Meter List Association Website: www.umla.ws. email: umla@umla.ws

12/26/17 In 2008, we started this site to publicize the unjust treatment of Maui citizens on the Upcountry Meter List. In 2016, after numerous efforts to rally those on the list to protest and many testimonies and suggestions to the County Council, we concluded that actual Council policy is to limit growth to save money and preserve low density development in Upcountry. Water shortage is just an excuse. Our house is now for sale. The fight may go on with new owners. We are still able to document the unjust stonewalling and blatant hypocrisy of our Maui politicians should it become useful for legal remedies.

Testimony to the WRC 9/17/16 CHAIR BAISA: Good morning, Dr. Pohle.
MR. POHLE: Good morning. I am Richard Pohle, protea farmer at 4,000 feet on Crater Road just about as high as you can get. And I thought it appropriate to bid aloha to, since I've testified so many times, to Chair Balsa and Vice-Chair Michael Victorino. It is also appropriate for me to grade you on your performance and this Committee's performance so I have some numbers. In 2008, my parcel was number 675, in 2015 it advanced 160 places, it is 515 except there are 27 parcels ahead of me because of ordinances which are good. So that means I've moved up 133 positions. Things have improved towards the end. May 15, 2014 to November 30, 2015 which is 17 months it moved up 55 slots, that is 39 per year, far slower than the 100 per year touted by Director Taylor in a recent Maui News article. For your information, the last meter award letter was written, when I checked last a week ago, was written three months ago for parcel 17B, application date 9/1999. So if I had to grade the Committee's work on getting meters satisfied, meter list people satisfied I really would have to objectively give you an F. If on the other hand I graded you on denying properly zoned land, their usage, best and highest usage and controlling development all the while avoiding suits because of you don't want to be acused of a taking on it, I'd have to give you an A.

Now, Madam Chair, one of your great achievements was 14.13.065, an applicant on the priority list whose application is being processed, that means water meter letter is available, and whose premises directly front the Department's existing water system determined adequate by the Department to supply potable water, what does that mean? Are there any constraints on the Water Department? If it's fire flow requirements that's the exemption that we're given. So I wish that was better defined. Furthermore, we pleaded with you to allow two parcels, subdivision into two extra parcels instead of one and unfortunately that didn't come true. A subdivision is an expensive proposition and it really should, we should be able to divide it into two. There is an article in Grass Roots that says "the Water Department, Maui Water Department says the reason it's been so slow is not because of lack of available water but because of lack of public sector engineers to do the paperwork, I see you've hired one more. But since it's, no meters have gone out for three months it seems that two times zero is still zero. Now I should be giving you suggestions for improvement, here they are. Charge the cost of water as delivered, fund farms separately, require real farms with real income. You can get that off the tax forms. Don't do it for a thousand, I can sell a thousand of protea, a thousand dollars of protea from my roadside stand.Eliminate the unfunded liabilities that are 50 percent for improvements. The County can't afford those and so they don'tissue meters. And put a limit on the required fire flow and water development fees. Fire flow is a ridiculous, logically and physically ridiculous requirement if its purpose is to prevent fire damage. It is not if the purpose is to halt development. I see my light is flashing. Thank you for this opportunity to speak. And I appreciate it and aloha.

.

Link to Meter Rationing Limits Development :

The Smoking Gun Showing How County Council Rations Meters

Link to the 2015 Meter Lists and Background briefing