STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1429

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.R. No. 36

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred S.R. No. 36 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES TO ESTABLISH A DESALINATION PLANNING TASK FORCE TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE USE OF DESALINATION FOR LARGE-SCALE WATER CONSUMPTION IN THE STATE IS FEASIBLE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Department of Land and Natural Resources to convene and provide administrative assistance to a Desalination Planning Task Force to determine whether the use of desalination for large-scale water consumption in the State is feasible.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Honolulu Board of Water Supply.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Your Committee finds that freshwater scarcity is an increasingly present threat to communities around the world in the face of population growth and climate change. Your Committee further finds that islands like Oahu rely on underground aquifers for their freshwater supply, which take decades to replenish naturally and are susceptible to chemical spills and leaks, droughts, and commercial overuse. Your Committee further finds that desalination, the process of removing salt from seawater, offers a promising solution to the freshwater scarcity crisis. This measure requests the Department of Land and Natural Resources to determine the feasibility of desalination for water consumption.

Your Committee notes the concern raised by the Department of Land and Natural Resources that the current level of staffing and resources at the Commission on Water Resources Management is not sufficient to complete the requested desalination study and provide a report to the Legislature twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2026. Therefore, your committee respectfully requests that subsequent committees to which this measure is referred consider delaying the report deadline to 2027.

Your Committee has amended this measure by amending its title to better reflect its purpose.

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 concurs with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 36, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 36, S.D. 1.

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

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair