HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	65
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TO IMPLEMENT A SCHEDULE OF REDUCED WATER TOLL RATES AND CHARGES THAT DIFFERENTIATES AMONG DIFFERENT IRRIGATION SYSTEM AREAS AND AGRICULTURAL USERS TO PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION OF HAWAII-GROWN AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES THROUGH INCREASED USE OF IRRIGATION WATER.

     WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii recognizes the importance of a self-sufficient and sustainable economy; and

     WHEREAS, approximately ninety per cent of all food consumed in Hawaii is imported into the State; and

     WHEREAS, although agricultural products are grown in Hawaii, the welfare of Hawaii's people will be enhanced by developing agricultural production and processing as fully as possible, including the growing and processing of agricultural crops, the production of livestock and poultry, aquaculture and aquaponics, and the production and processing of other agricultural products; and

     WHEREAS, expanding Hawaii's agricultural sector, with the resulting local purchases of Hawaii-grown and processed agricultural products, would significantly benefit the State's economy, revitalize Hawaii's agricultural sector, and contribute to job creation and career opportunities for farmers, producers of agricultural products, ranchers, and others engaged in ancillary agricultural businesses; and

     WHEREAS, Hawaii has substantial natural water resources on each of the islands that are not currently being effectively used and conserved for agricultural purposes, but that can, on a sustainable basis, be used in greater quantities to expand and enhance Hawaii's agricultural sector and production; and

     WHEREAS, on the island of Hawaii, the high cost of water delivery is causing a hardship on farmers growing, and desiring to grow, agricultural crops and poultry, ranchers engaged in the production of livestock, and others desiring to develop aquaculture and aquaponics, thereby making it difficult to continue, or undertake, a sustainable agricultural business and therefore adversely affecting the island of Hawaii's agricultural productivity; and

     WHEREAS, existing irrigation systems provide water in different areas on the island of Hawaii, and the costs of operating and maintaining these systems differ depending upon their location; and

     WHEREAS, users of these irrigation systems pay water toll rates and charges for the delivery of water that are uniform state-wide, which imposes hardships on farmers, ranchers, and others on the island of Hawaii; and

     WHEREAS, the existing water toll rates and charges do not take into account the levels and amounts that are appropriate for these different irrigation systems in these different locations on the island of Hawaii in order to promote the increased agricultural and livestock and poultry production in these different areas, and do not take into account the different classes of users who often use different amounts of water for agricultural production; and

     WHEREAS, the Board of Agriculture, under chapters 141, 167 and 168, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is authorized and empowered to develop irrigation systems and to set water toll rates and charges; and

     WHEREAS, as an initial step toward establishing a system of differentiated water toll rates for different irrigation systems and for different classes of users, the establishment of an implementation plan for the island of Hawaii's district irrigation systems would provide opportunities to use for agricultural production the currently unused water within these districts on the island of Hawaii that currently flows to the sea; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Agriculture is requested to report to the Legislature on the implementation of a program that establishes a system of differentiated water toll rates and charges for the different irrigation systems located throughout the island of Hawaii, and for the different classes of users of such water, in order to more fully promote the development and expansion of agricultural activities and processing, including the growing of agricultural crops and the production of livestock and poultry on these irrigated lands; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Agriculture is requested to submit its report no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2014; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture, the Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, the Director of Health, the Mayor of the County of Hawaii, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, the President of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, and the Commander of the United States Pacific Command.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Ulupono; Water Rights