Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 877 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds and make an appropriation for the final phase of the Upcountry Kula, Maui Watershed Project for a pipeline from Omaopio Tank to Keokea.

Your Committee finds that the agriculture industry in Maui is severely threatened because of insufficient water or erratic and undependable supply. Maui's agricultural products range from the world-famous Kula onions to the lovely variety of protea blossoms used in floral designs. There are many other kinds of agricultural products, including both edible and foliage plants that are shipped to other countries and also to Honolulu. Without water, however, Maui's agriculture industry cannot produce healthy harvests.

This measure is designed to provide a dedicated agricultural water system for farmers in upcountry Maui, offering a more reliable, less-expensive source of irrigation water for this area. The service area for this project will extend to Hawaiian homes agricultural lands in Keokea and could provide homestead farmers with an alternative source of water with which to irrigate their crops.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 877, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 877, S.D. 1.