WHEREAS, one of our most precious natural resources is clean, fresh water; and

WHEREAS, water is not only used as drinking water, but is also critical to sustaining our farms and ranches as well as our natural environment, including our forests, fields, valleys, and mountains; and

WHEREAS, the sustainability of our state's water resources is highly dependent on the efforts that we, as a community, make to ensure that a steady and reliable supply of water is available for us and our keiki; and

WHEREAS, one method of conserving water in Hawaii is to use pervious pavement in our construction projects to pave sidewalks, driveways, and roads; and

WHEREAS, pervious pavement means cement blends, grasscrete, gravel, and other materials that allow water to seep through paved surfaces and into the soil as nature has intended, instead of being wasted through storm runoff; and

WHEREAS, an additional benefit of these pervious pavements is that such pavements reduce the need for costly stormwater drainage systems and retention areas; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, that the counties are urged, in their permitting process, to require pervious pavement to be used to pave sidewalks, driveways, and roads for new residential, commercial, and public construction projects; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Mayor of the County of Hawaii, Mayor of the County of Maui, Mayor of the County of Kauai, and the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu.

Report Title:

Urging the counties to require pervious pavement for new projects.