STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3066

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1984

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 1984, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WATER SECURITY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to direct and make an appropriation to the Commission on Water Resource Management to conduct a study on statewide water security, including a review of historical water supply, present water use, and future water availability until 2050.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the O‘ahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, Board of Water Supply of the City and County of Honolulu, and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Your Committee finds that the State is especially vulnerable to the impact of climate change and that climate change poses two primary threats to the State's freshwater supply: the intrusion of saltwater and the change in rainfall frequency and intensity. By directing the Commission on Water Resource Management to conduct a statewide water security water study, this measure will assist the State in determining its future water supply and needs.

Your Committee notes the comments submitted by the Department of Land and Natural Resources that, in accordance with chapter 174C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the Commission of Water Resource Management provides for the development of the Hawaii Water Plan, a long-range, comprehensive, multicomponent plan that seeks to address the problems of supply and conservation of water. According to the Department, virtually all of the study elements outlined in this measure are already elements of the Hawaii Water Plan. Instead, the Department suggested updating the statewide framework. The framework is a guidance document that provides recommended elements for inclusion in each component plan so that updated plans are more useful and may be more easily integrated and coordinated with respect to water source development by the State and counties. Updating the statewide framework will provide the basis for more holistic water planning, thereby increasing the State's future water supply.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Adopting the language submitted by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, which:

(A) Adds language to the purpose section regarding the state water code and the Hawaii Water Plan;

(B) Replaces the language requiring a study on statewide water security with language that requires the Commission of Water Resource Management to update the statewide framework for updating the Hawaii Water Plan to provide additional guidance; and

(C) Specifies the tasks and elements of the statewide framework update;

(2) Inserting an appropriation amount of $350,000 for the Commission on Water Resource Management to update the statewide framework;

(3) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2018; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1984, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1984, H.D. 1, 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 and Land,

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair