Maui Land &Pineapple Co. filed counterclaims in court late Monday night against five entities suing the company over an irrigation water shortage that led the PGA to scrap a prestigious January 2026 golf tournament worth $50 million to Maui’s economy.
The former pineapple plantation operator alleges that the owner of two golf courses, three homeowners associations and one organic farm in Kapalua, which sued MLP in August, jeopardized the safety of the Kapalua community by using water barred by restrictions throughout June and three days in August.
MLP also contends in its legal filing that the water shortage isn’t due to any failure of its own to maintain the company’s delivery system, as plaintiffs contend.
“The problem is not MLP’s system; the problem is there has not been enough rain in the past year to supply stream water to all off-stream users in West Maui,” Race Randle, CEO of MLP, said in a statement.
MLP’s system, known as the Honokohau Ditch System, is largely composed of tunnels, ditches, pipes and reservoirs developed over a century ago to divert mountain water to dry parts of West Maui for pineapple and sugarcane cultivation. Since the disappearance of those plantations, the system mainly serves Maui County, which treats water for potable use, and resort areas developed by MLP. Minimum water levels in reservoirs also are reserved to feed fire hydrants in Kapalua and for helicopter firefighting needs.
Randle said the state Commission on Water Resource Management, which mandated new minimum stream flow levels in 2021, as well as state law, prioritize stream, fire protection and potable uses over irrigation, and that plaintiffs in the lawsuit disregarded those priorities after being told not to use water for irrigation when supply was low.
“They used water that they were not entitled to — at the expense of our community,” he said. “They prioritized lawns and putting greens over fire protection and people, putting our whole community at risk.”
The five entities suing MLP are TY Management Corp., which bought the Plantation Course and Bay Course at Kapalua Resort from MLP more than a decade ago, Plantation Estates Lot Owners’ Association, Association of Apartment Owners of Coconut Grove on Kapalua, Association of Apartment Owners of the Ridge at Kapalua and Hua Momona Farms LLC.
The plaintiffs allege that MLP, which in recent years has liquidated assets to pay off debt, allowed its water system to fall into a state of “demonstrable disrepair” that prevented adequate water supply during drought conditions over the past year, thus causing damage to the plaintiffs under irrigation use restrictions.
The three homeowner associations also allege that their communities, which were developed by MLP decades ago, face higher wildfire risks due to dead landscaping and other vegetation due to the lack of irrigation water.
MLP informed TY Management in August 2024 that factors including drought conditions and irreparable water system damage caused by heavy rain associated with Hurricane Lane in 2018 were anticipated to result in reduced water availability.
The water system owner also unsuccessfully asked TY Management to pay for system improvements, and drastically increased rates per 1,000 gallons of water from 49 cents to $2.45 initially before coming down to $1.68.
On Sept. 16, the PGA Tour announced that its first tournament of 2026, The Sentry, would not be held as scheduled from Jan. 5-11. In addition to an estimated $50 million boost for Maui’s economy, the PGA Tour and partners delivered $747,704 to local nonprofits at last year’s event, according to title sponsor Sentry Insurance.
MLP in its counterclaim blamed TY Management for not securing an alternate water source under land use easements granted by MLP over 15 years ago to tap groundwater.
Randle, in a statement, added, “Now, they try to deflect blame for their years of inaction and overconsumption during a historic drought.”
MLP claims that TY Management used 11.4 million gallons of water during June despite a Tier 4 restriction prohibiting all irrigation due to insufficient stream flow levels and fire protection needs, and said a photograph included in the filing shows sprinklers running on one course on June 25.
The alleged improper use included 6.8 million gallons irrigating the Plantation Course, which hosts The Sentry, and 4.2 million gallons for the Bay Course. MLP also alleges that TY Management used 437,700 gallons to irrigate its golf academy driving range.
MLP also alleges that the homeowner associations used water for irrigation in June in violation of the restriction, and that both TY Management and the associations used more water than allowed during a lesser restriction limiting use to 40% of normal between Aug. 27 and Aug. 29 after the lawsuit was filed in state Circuit Court on Maui.
“Ignoring the priorities set by Hawaii law, TY and the Associations took water prioritization into their own hands,” MLP’s counterclaim states. “When asked to conserve, they put their irrigation needs first, knowingly using millions of gallons of water meant for fire protection for the entire Kapalua community.”
MLP’s counterclaim also contends that TY Management has engaged in a defamatory publicity campaign, and established the website kapaluawater.org containing false information.
TY Management on Tuesday rebutted what it described as the heart of MLP’s counterclaims about appropriate water system maintenance, and said countersuing plaintiffs is another attempt to distract the courts and public from “many failings.”
“We remain clear on the facts: for years, the Commission on Water Resource Management and community members warned MLP to repair and maintain the ditch system, and MLP failed to act,” TY Management said in a statement. “The result has been preventable harm to residents, farmers, cultural practitioners, workers, small businesses, and nonprofits alike. This is not golf versus farmers — it is a systemic crisis caused by decades of neglect. Drought made things worse, but neglect is what made Maui vulnerable.”
Source: The Garden Island