CHAPTER 174C

STATE WATER CODE

 

        Part I.  Administrative Structure

Section

    174C-1 Short title

    174C-2 Declaration of policy

    174C-3 Definitions

    174C-4 Scope

    174C-5 General powers and duties

  174C-5.5 Water resource management fund

    174C-6 Deputy to the chairperson of the commission on water

           resource management

    174C-7 Commission on water resource management

    174C-8 Adoption of rules concerning water resources by the

           commission

    174C-9 Proceedings before the commission concerning water

           resources

   174C-10 Dispute resolution

   174C-11 Hearings officers

   174C-12 Judicial review of rules and orders of the

           commission concerning the water code

 174C-12.5 Contested cases; appeals

   174C-13 Citizen complaints

   174C-14 Acquisition of real property

   174C-15 Penalties and common law remedies

 174C-15.5 Administrative violation system

   174C-16 Severability

 

        Part II.  Reports of Water Use

   174C-26 Filing of declaration

   174C-27 Issuance of certificate

 

        Part III.  Hawaii Water Plan

   174C-31 Hawaii water plan

   174C-32 Coordination

 

        Part IV.  Regulation of Water Use

   174C-41 Designation of water management area

   174C-42 Notice; public hearing required

   174C-43 Investigations required

   174C-44 Ground water criteria for designation

   174C-45 Surface water criteria for designation

   174C-46 Findings of fact; decision of commission

   174C-47 Modifying and rescinding designated areas

   174C-48 Permits required

   174C-49 Conditions for a permit

   174C-50 Existing uses

   174C-51 Application for a permit

 174C-51.5 Dual line water supply systems; installation

           in new industrial and commercial developments

           located in designated water management areas

   174C-52 Notice

   174C-53 Permit issuance

   174C-54 Competing applications

   174C-55 Duration of permits

   174C-56 Review of permits

   174C-57 Modification of permit terms

   174C-58 Revocation of permits

   174C-59 Transfer of permit

   174C-60 Contested cases

   174C-61 Fees

   174C-62 Declaration of water shortage

   174C-63 Appurtenant rights

 

        Part V.  Water Quality

   174C-66 Jurisdiction over water quality

   174C-67 Exchange of information

   174C-68 Water quality plan

 

        Part VI.  Instream Uses of Water

   174C-71 Protection of instream uses

 

        Part VII.  Wells

   174C-81 Definitions

   174C-82 Powers and duties of the commission

   174C-83 Registration of all existing wells

   174C-84 Permits for well construction and pump installation

   174C-85 Well completion report

   174C-86 Well construction and pump installation standards

   174C-87 Sealing of abandoned wells

 

        Part VIII.  Stream Diversion Works

   174C-91 Definition

   174C-92 Registration of existing stream diversion works

   174C-93 Permits for construction or alteration

   174C-94 Completion report

   174C-95 Abandonment

 

        Part IX.  Native Hawaiian Water Rights

  174C-101 Native Hawaiian water rights

 

Note

 

  Standardized water audits of public water systems; reports.  L 2016, c 169.

  The acquisition of the Waiahole water system shall not be construed to affect the powers and authority of the commission on water resource management or its powers to modify any water allocations.  L 1998, c 111, §15.

 

Cross References

 

  Environmental courts, jurisdiction over proceedings arising under this chapter, see §604A-2.

  Irrigation and water utilization projects, see chapter 168.

  Irrigation water development, see chapter 167.

 

Law Journals and Reviews

 

  Testing the Current:  The Water Code and the Regulation of Hawaii`s Water Resources.  10 UH L. Rev. 205 (1988).

  Private Hopes and Public Values in the "Reasonable Beneficial Use" of Hawai`i's Water:  Is Balance Possible?  18 UH L. Rev. 1 (1996).

  Cultures In Conflict In Hawai`i:  The Law and Politics of Native Hawaiian Water Rights.  18 UH L. Rev. 71 (1996).

  Proceedings of the 2001 Symposium on Managing Hawai`i's Public Trust Doctrine.  24 UH L. Rev. 21 (2001).

  Water Regulation, Land Use and the Environment.  30 UH L. Rev. 49 (2007).

  Where Justice Flows Like Water:  The Moon Court's Role in Illuminating Hawai`i Water Law.  33 UH L. Rev. 537 (2011).

  Nā Mo`o o Ko`olau:  The Water Guardians of Ko`olau Weaving and Wielding Collective Memory in the War for East Maui Water.  41 UH L. Rev. 189 (2018).

  A Voice for the Waters of East Maui.  43 UH L. Rev. 166 (2020).

 

Case Notes

 

  Although the public trust doctrine and the state water code share similar core principles, the code does not supplant the protections of the public trust doctrine.  94 H. 97, 9 P.3d 409 (2000).

  Despite evidence that permit applicant violated chapter 340E, neither the water code nor the public trust precluded the commission on water resource management from allocating water to applicant to supply water to domestic end users from a delivery system that may not comply with chapter 340E; as this jurisdiction separately regulates water allocation and drinking water standards, and there was no discernable legislative intent to make water use permit applications subject to compliance with chapter 340E, violations of chapter 340E were not germane to a review of the propriety of water allocation under the water code and the public trust.  116 H. 481, 174 P.3d 320 (2007).