A Maui landowner being sued for exacerbating drought conditions has fired back, countersuing the plaintiffs for violating water use restrictions.
Several organizations — including TY Management Corp., which owns and operates the Kapalua Golf Courses; Hua Momona Farms LLC; Plantation Estates Lot Owners’ Association; Association of Apartment Owners of the Coconut Grove on Kapalua; and the Association of Apartment Owners of the Ridge at Kapalua — sued MLP in August, claiming that MLP had failed to sufficiently maintain its irrigation system, leaving those organizations without adequate water.
The situation escalated earlier this month when the PGA Tour announced that its annual Sentry Tournament, which had been held at the Kapalua Plantation Golf Course every year since 1999, would not return in January 2026 because the lack of water had degraded the course below tournament standards.
At the time, Kapalua Golf general manager Alex Nakajima laid the blame for the situation on poor water management.
In response, MLP filed a counterclaim Tuesday, suing TY Management for breach of contract, defamation, negligence, unjust enrichment, and violation of the State Water Code. The countersuit accuses TY of failing to responsibly reduce its water use during drought conditions.
“Ignoring the priorities set by Hawai‘i law, TY and the Associations took water prioritization into their own hands,” the counterclaim reads. “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.”
The counterclaim goes on to allege that TY only began following irrigation restrictions after months of flouting them, and then “took pictures of browning grass, curated a narrative for a defamatory publicity campaign and filed a lawsuit made more of media soundbites than legal substance.”
The countersuit includes a description of MLP’s own water supply infrastructure and the agreements it shares with TY for its access to that infrastructure.
In a contract signed in 2010, TY agreed that, in the event of a drought, MLP’s priorities will be first to satisfy users’ need for potable water before non-potable water needs such as the golf courses and agricultural tenants. Similarly, if there is insufficient water to satisfy all non-potable water needs, TY agreed that MLP has the right to reduce water delivered to the golf courses.
Throughout the spring and summer of this year, statewide water management company Hawaiʻi Water Services placed TY and other water users were placed under “Tier 4” water conservation restrictions, requiring a 100% reduction of the use of non-potable water save for fire protection, according to the countersuit.
When those restrictions were scaled back in August to “Tier 2” — requiring a 40% reduction in use — Hawaii Water Services soon warned MLP that some customers were flouting those restrictions and using more water than permitted. By the end of August, despite warnings to MLP’s customers, including TY, HWS placed users back under Tier 4, citing repeated non-compliance with conservation rules.
“The water [TY] used to irrigate golf courses and landscaping was water that was reserved for critical fire protection for the entire Kapalua community,” the countersuit read. “[Their] decisions to prioritize golf courses and landscaping jeopardized the safety of the Kapalua community.”
MLP claimed the golf courses used more than 11.4 million gallons of water for irrigation in June, while MLP’s other agricultural tenants used zero gallons. And, between Aug. 27 and Aug. 29, while under Tier 2 restrictions, MLP claimed TY used over 1 million gallons each day for irrigation.
The countersuit also accuses TY of knowingly making and promulgating false statements about its water agreements with MLP, such as claims that MLP is “pocketing” revenues that should be used for infrastructure maintenance.
The countersuit concludes with a request for damages to be proven at trial.
“Securing Maui’s water future will take all of us doing our part. We need water solutions that benefit the broader community, not just a few wealthy individuals,” MLP CEO Race Randle said in a statement. “The golf courses had a chance to secure their own irrigation water after they were granted an easement by MLP to do so over 15 years ago. Now, they try to deflect blame for their years of inaction and overconsumption during a historic drought.”
TY Management made a holding statement to Aloha State Daily Tuesday, stating that the company will review MLP’s claims, but challenged “MLP’s demonstrably false statement … that ‘MLP has appropriately maintained the [ditch] system.’
“Everyone knows that isn’t true, as our complaint demonstrated in picture after picture and paragraph after paragraph,” the statement read. “MLP’s decision to sue TY and other West Maui water users just because they dared to hold MLP accountable is another attempt by MLP to distract the courts and the public from its many failings.”
ASD reached out to MLP for comment.
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