Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, Energy and Environment, to which was referred H.B. No. 688 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to change the effective date of existing uses of water under the water code from July 1, 1987, to the effective date of designation.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, City and County of Honolulu Board of Water Supply, Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii, and Hawaii Leeward Planning Conference. Hawaii's Thousand Friends and Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter submitted testimony in opposition.

Your Committee finds that, as a result of interpretation of current law, the Commission on Water Resource Management (Commission) is required to use July 1, 1987, as the determining date for existing water uses in the designation of a water management area. This raises problems for the Commission, as it does not have reliable information on water usage in 1987 for many areas.

In addition, your Committee has heard that using 1987 as an existing use date could affect public and private municipal water systems because usage was smaller then, and that some priority uses in 1987 – such as those of the large sugar plantations – no longer exist.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, Energy and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 688 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.