HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

293

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

  
   

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

URGING THE COMMISSION ON WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT to fulfill its constitutional and statutory mandate to protect public trust instream uses.

 

 

WHEREAS, Article XI, sections 1 and 7 of the State Constitution recognizes and establishes that Hawaii's precious water resources are held by the State as a public trust for the benefit of present and future generations; and

WHEREAS, pursuant to this public trust mandate, the Legislature enacted the State Water Code (Code) as chapter 174C, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), and created the Commission on Water Resource Management (Commission) to serve as the primary trustee of the State's water resources; and

WHEREAS, continuous stream flows from mauka to makai lands are essential for Hawaii's drinking water supply, productive watersheds, native stream life, estuaries and fisheries, traditional agriculture and aquaculture, and native Hawaiian rights and practices; and

WHEREAS, the Code requires the Commission to establish "instream flow standards" (IFS) on a "stream-by-stream basis whenever necessary to protect the public interest in waters of the State," as the Commission's primary tool to protect public trust instream uses, including resource protection, recreation, aesthetics, and traditional and customary native Hawaiian practices, and to fulfill its comprehensive, long-term planning, and regulatory function; and

WHEREAS, since the Code was enacted in 1987, the Commission has not established any significant, scientifically-based instream flow standards for the State; and

WHEREAS, for more than a century, public streams throughout Hawaii were diverted for private, commercial offstream uses, diversions which continue today despite their diminished use due to the decline of large-scale plantation agriculture and, therefore, result in wasted flows; and

WHEREAS, about 90 percent of the 376 streams running through the state have diversions, with a total of 1,242 diversions having been reported or permitted; and

WHEREAS, the flows of the Na Wai Eha or Four Great Waters which include the Waihee, North and South Waiehu, Iao, and Waikapu Streams and their tributaries, are still being diverted as they were at the height of the plantation era, despite a reduced demand for water for commercial agriculture and the conversion of lands to residential development in central Maui; and

WHEREAS, the Na Wai Eha, traditionally famed in song and story, supported a thriving natural ecosystem and native Hawaiian community, and even in their presently depleted state, have been recognized as exceptional "blue ribbon" candidates for protection and restoration based on their ability to support aquatic, cultural, riparian, and recreational resources; and

WHEREAS, many members of the Maui community, including those with conservation and native Hawaiian interests, have worked tirelessly to restore the Na Wai Eha to revive its stream ecosystems and related public instream uses, and have urged the Commission to carry out its constitutional and statutory mandate to end the wasteful diversions of the streams; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the Senate concurring, that the Legislature declares stream restoration to be essential to support and restore Hawaii's natural, cultural, and recreational treasures for current and future generations; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission is urged to fulfill its constitutional and statutory mandate to protect public trust instream uses by:

    1. Devoting staff and resources necessary to fulfill its mandate;
    2. Finalizing its strategic plan to protect the public interest in instream uses, which plan should include:

(a) Identifying and prioritizing streams that require IFS;

(b) Determining the scope and cost of studies, and the resources and time required to establish scientifically-based IFS;

(c) Employing the services of volunteers such as University of Hawaii students as part of their curricular credits and professional consultants;

(d) Securing federal funds and services (including making direct requests to Hawaii’s congressional delegation for grants or other assistance);

(e) Establishing partnerships with federal and county governmental agencies, as well as private business and conservation organizations; and

(f) Considering the allocation of water for designated "important agricultural lands;"

(3) Promptly resolving all pending petitions to restore stream flows such as those of the Na Wai Eha; and

(4) Ordering the operators of any stream diversions, including those from the Na Wai Eha, to discontinue any diversions that have no reasonable and beneficial purpose;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in its efforts to accomplish the above, the Commission is urged to meet with the following:

(1) Parties who petitioned the Commission to restore stream flows to the Na Wai Eha, including Earthjustice, Hui o Na Wai Eha, and Maui Tomorrow;

(2) Current operators of stream diversions of the Na Wai Eha, including the Wailuku Agribusiness Company, Inc.; and

(3) Other interested groups, including the County of Maui and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission is requested to submit a report of its progress and findings to the Legislature no later than 20 days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2006; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Commission on Water Resource Management, Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Mayor of the County of Maui, President of Wailuku Agribusiness Company, Inc., President of Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company, and Earthjustice.

Report Title:

Commission on Water Resource Management; Instream Flow Standards