Appropriates money to match federal funds for an Army Corps of Engineers flood project in the Kaiaka Bay watershed on the island of Oahu.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. "Land ownership" was a foreign concept to the ancient Hawaiians. Instead, land was divided into ahupuaa, sections of land that extended from the mountain summit to the outer edge of the reef. The ahupuaa formed a self-contained economic and social unit that effectively integrated the uses of its resources. Resources on the land were rarely tainted or overused because the entire ahupuaa was managed carefully by the Hawaiian people. Today, this ancient system is viewed by many as an excellent model for resource management.

The legislature finds that this same system of resource management is important to our watersheds, as what happens in the upstream areas greatly affect the downstream communities, and unless water quantity and quality are managed carefully, as the Hawaiians did in the ahupuaa systems, contaminant-spreading vehicles like flooding and nonpoint source pollution will threaten our environment.

This purpose of this Act is to match federal funds appropriated for an Army Corps of Engineers flood project located at the Kaiaka Bay watershed on the island of Oahu.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $300,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007, for an Army Corps of Engineers flood project located at the Kaiaka Bay watershed on the north shore of Oahu. The amount appropriated is to match federal funds for this project and is contingent upon the federal moneys being appropriated.

SECTION 3. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of land and natural resources for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2006.