A fight over who controls one of Maui's biggest water systems is heating up, pitting the county and local farmers against a foreign-owned agribusiness.

• Maui County has spent two years asking the state to hand over the East Maui irrigation system, but the state instead wants to auction long-term water leases.
• Mayor Richard Bissen is asking the state land board to reject the plan, saying it would shut out the people of Maui.
• The leases would go to the county and to Mahi Pono, a big Central Maui farm owned by a Canadian pension fund that wants a long-term water guarantee.
• Local farmers, cultural leaders, and environmental groups back county control, while state managers say mixed land ownership makes it impractical.
• Environmental groups argue the state's plan has legal flaws.

Outlook: The land board's decision will shape who holds Maui's water for years, and a rejection would keep the door open for county control.