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 S.B. No. 1401 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to authorize the issuance of up to $250,000 in general obligation bonds for a strategic master plan of the Ala Wai watershed for effective community stewardship of the watershed and improved water quality.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Ahupua`a Action Alliance and four individuals. The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) submitted testimony in opposition. The University of Hawaii at Manoa Environmental Center submitted comments.

Your Committee finds that DLNR is in the process of executing an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prepare the Ala Wai Watershed Federal Feasibility Study. The study, which is expected to take three and one half years, will develop and analyze alternatives to improve water quality within the canal and tributary streams, address drainage and flooding concerns, mitigate sedimentation, and enhance recreational activities.

Your Committee believes the feasibility study is an important component in improving the water quality of the Ala Wai, but that it is only one part of the solution to the problem. The master plan proposed in this bill would develop a complementary community component in the planning process, and your Committee is supportive of a multi-faceted approach to improving water quality in the Ala Wai, as proposed in this measure. Your Committee has made a technical amendment to clarify the appropriation.

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 S.B. No. 1401, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1401, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.