STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2142
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 2759
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2022
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Water and Land, Agriculture and Environment, and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2759 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DISPOSITION OF WATER RIGHTS,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to exempt the instream use of water for traditional and customary kalo cultivation practices from the existing process for disposition of water rights.
Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, one member of the Hawai‘i County Council, County of Kaua‘i Department of Planning, County of Kaua‘i Office of the Mayor, Waimea Hawaiian Civic Club, Kua‘āina Ulu ‘Auamo, Wai‘oli Valley Taro Hui, Hawai‘i Alliance for Progressive Action, Hui o Nā Wai ‘Ehā, Hawai‘i SEED, Haiku Community Association, Waipā Foundation, Kupuna for the Mo‘opuna, Earthjustice, Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, Hawai‘i Land Trust, Hanalei Hawaiian Civic Club, and twenty-six individuals. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Your Committees find that for nearly two thousand years, Native Hawaiians have been farming successfully on lands throughout the State without adversely impacting the land. As a significant cultural and traditional practice, Native Hawaiian farming practices serve as a key tradition that also benefits the quality of life for Hawaii's residents. While the State has a fiduciary duty to assure the preservation and enhancement of water for various public interests, some regulatory actions disrupt protected cultural rights and traditions of Native Hawaiians.
However, your Committees have heard the concerns of many testifiers, including Hui o Nā Wai ‘Ehā, that this measure as drafted should confirm and uphold existing water rights. According to Hui o Nā Wai ‘Ehā, protections of traditional, customary, and kuleana rights, including rights to access traditional water course or auwai, support kalo farmers across the State. Some kalo farmers have waited over twenty years to have priority rights recognized. However, the gap in recognition has led to delays or deprivation of water rights access. To preserve traditional Native Hawaiian cultural rights while also providing clean, safe, and protected water to the people of Hawaii, amendments to this measure are therefore necessary to provide further justice for kalo farmers to exercise traditional, customary, and kuleana water rights.
Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Clarifying
that appurtenant and traditional, customary, and kuleana water rights include the
rights of use, access, delivery, and quality of water that shall be recognized
and protected;
(2) Amending
section 1 to reflect its amended purpose;
(3) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050,
to encourage further
discussion; and
(4) Making
technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and
consistency.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water and Land, Agriculture and Environment, and Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2759, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2759, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water and Land, Agriculture and Environment, and Hawaiian Affairs,
________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair |
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________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair |
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________________________________ MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair |