STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3002

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2680

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred H.B. No. 2680, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE REVENUE BONDS FOR KALOKO RESERVOIR,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the issuance of special purpose revenue bonds to provide financing to assist the Mary N. Lucas Estate with the Kaloko Reservoir.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

     Your Committee finds that the Kaloko Reservoir is an earthen dam constructed in 1890 for the irrigation of sugarcane fields on the island of Kauai.  It is currently owned by the Mary N. Lucas Estate and, until 2015, was operated by Kilauea Irrigation Company.  On March 14, 2006, after an extended period of heavy rainfall, the embankment breached and the dam failed disastrously, flooding Kilauea town, killing seven people, destroying several homes and critical infrastructure, and devastating the forest area downstream.  The Kaloko Reservoir has not been fully repaired since the dam failure.  Your Committee finds that improvements to the reservoir would bring the structure into compliance with current dam safety standards, which would reduce the risk of another dam failure, and provide a water resource that will benefit the surrounding community.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Reinserting the special purpose revenue bond amount of $10,000,000; and

     (2)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2016.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2680, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2680, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture,

________________________________

MIKE GABBARD, Chair