Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares leaves Saturday for meetings in Washington, D.C., for two days of meetings with members of Congress and senior officials from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Resource Conservation Service.

Tavares plans to discuss funding for the county's bus system, which saw a 68 percent increase in ridership last year, with transportation officials. She also plans request support from the Resource Conservation Service on the proposed 300 million-gallon Upcountry raw water storage reservoir.

Tavares also plans to talk with members of Hawai'i's congressional delegation about water, transportation and renewable energy issues pertinent to Maui.

"It is vital that we reach out to all available resources to help meet the many needs of our county," said Mayor Tavares. "Federaldollars for large-scale projects, such as Honoapi'ilani Highway and the new Upcountry water storage reservoir, will mean a lot to our county's future."