HR50

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO CONVENE A TASK FORCE TO EVALUATE AND MAKE RECOMMENDATION ON FACILITATING THE RE-USE OF WATER IN HAWAII.

WHEREAS, Hawaii has been blessed with consistent rainfall, advantageous geology, and high-quality drinking water stores for centuries; and

WHEREAS, recent findings have raised concern about the long-term fresh water security in the State, as the University of Hawaii and other scientists have documented troubling trends in recent decades, including reduced rainfall, higher temperatures, higher evaporation rates, declining stream flows, and increased incidents of drought; and

WHEREAS, if current trends hold, in the year 2030, Hawaii will receive only three-quarters of the rain that fell in 1985; and

WHEREAS, multiple prediction models tend to agree that regardless of overall rainfall amounts, the dry and leeward side of Hawaii, where the majority of the State's population lives, will experience reduced rainfall and increased potential evapotranspiration, which simultaneously creates less supply and more demand for water; and

WHEREAS, increased water runoff and less aquifer recharge continue to occur as the State converts open agricultural land into land for development; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii's population has doubled since statehood and is expected to double again in the next sixty years, not including the more than two hundred thousand tourists the State hosts each day; and

WHEREAS, the projected population rise, coupled with trends indicating the likelihood of a reduction in fresh water in Hawaii, suggests that Hawaii is entering into an era of fresh water uncertainty, which creates an urgent need to guard our future water supply; and

WHEREAS, a drier, hotter future has serious consequences for the long-term availability of fresh water in Hawaii, and thereby threatens the economic security of the State; and

WHEREAS, increasing the amount of water re-use in the State will alleviate pressure on fresh drinking water supplies; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Fresh Water Initiative, organized by the Hawaii Community Foundation, was launched in 2013 to bring multiple, diverse parties together to develop a forward-thinking and consensus-based strategy to increase water security for the State; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Fresh Water Initiative has relied on a blue ribbon advisory panel of individuals, known as the Hawaii Fresh Water Initiative Fresh Water Council, with deep knowledge of water and a collaborative spirit to articulate a vision for a more secure and sustainable water future based on shared values, and shared sacrifice; and

WHEREAS, members of the Hawaii Fresh Water Initiative Fresh Water Council have agreed to continue working together to help implement the recommendations of the Hawaii Fresh Water Initiative and are committed to seeing the recommendations adopted and implemented; and

WHEREAS, both the Department of Health and the Hawaii Community Foundation are dedicated to the goal of increasing water re-use across the State by thirty million gallons per day by 2030; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, that the Department of Health is requested to convene a task force to identify barriers and solutions to expanded water re-use in the State; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force be composed of the following members:

(1) The Deputy Director of Environmental Health at the Department of Health, or the Director of Health's designee;

(2) The Chair of the Hawaii Fresh Water Initiative Fresh Water Council, or the Chair's designee;

(3) The Environmental Program Director at Hawaii Community Foundation, or the Director's designee;

(4) The Manager and Chief Engineer at the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, or Chief Engineer's designee;

(5) One director level representative from each county, should they be able and willing to participate, from an agency with permitting or implementation authority over water re-use in that county, and as designated by each respective county mayor;

(6) The Chair of the House Committee on Water and Land, or the Chair's designee;

(7) The Chair of the Senate Committee on Water and Land, or the Chair's designee; and

(8) A representative from the Legislative Reference Bureau, who shall provide legislative drafting assistance, should the task force propose any legislation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to:

(1) Collaborate with other state, county, and federal agencies and private partners;

(2) Review findings of how water re-use and gray water regulations are administered in other states and localities and in other countries, and assess the feasibility of implementing similar regulations in Hawaii;

(3) Examine proposed language for future regulation or policy changes in Hawaii; and

(4) Identify and rank potential demonstration projects for water re-use in Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to report its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2020; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to provide administration and clerical support to the task force; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Chair of the House Committee on Water and Land, the Chair of the Senate Committee on Water and Land, the Mayor of each county, the Director of Health, the Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, and the Manager of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

DOH; Water Re-Use; Task Force; Hawaii Fresh Water Initiative

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	50
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018
STATE OF HAWAII