STAND. COM. REP. NO. 183

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: H.B. No. 905

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water & Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 905 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SUSTAINABLE GROUNDWATER YIELDS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require and appropriate funds for the University of Hawaii to develop a flexible model for setting sustainable groundwater yields that is inclusive of the needs of traditional and customary Native Hawaiian practices, climate change history and projections, and groundwater seepage at the shoreline.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Sierra Club of Hawai‘i, and three individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General and one individual.

Your Committee finds that the existing method for determining sustainable groundwater yields fails to account for uncertainties related to freshwater recharge. This measure intends to provide a flexible model in the development of a sustainable yield of groundwater that account for various uncertainties that may occur.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Specifying that this measure is a matter of statewide concern;

(2) Requiring the University of Hawaii to consult with the Commission on Water Resource Management in the development of a scope of work and cost analysis for a flexible groundwater model that proposes methods for determining the needs of traditional and customary Native Hawaiian practices, climate change projections, and groundwater dependent ecosystems;

(3) Requiring the report, in consultation with the Commission on Water Resource Management, to be submitted by November 1, 2023;

(4) Removing the appropriation;

(5) Changing the effective date to June 30, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water & Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 905, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 905, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Higher Education & Technology.

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

____________________________

LINDA ICHIYAMA, Chair