STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2681

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2800

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Agriculture and Environment, Water, Land, Culture and the Arts, and Economic Development and Tourism, to which was referred S.B. No. 2800 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO IRRIGATION SYSTEMS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity, Department of Land and Natural Resources, and the Agribusiness Development Corporation to acquire, repair, and maintain irrigation systems in the State.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity; Department of Land and Natural Resources; Agribusiness Development Corporation; Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau; Larry Jefts Farms, LLC; Dole Food Company Hawaii; and three individuals.

Your Committees find that the State's economic burden of environmental protection inaction will far exceed the cost of proactive investment in freshwater resource mitigation and adaptation strategies, particularly investments in irrigation development. Your Committees further find that many irrigation systems throughout the State have fallen into disrepair, and without adequate funding, operational challenges and deferred remediation may escalate, resulting in greater long-term costs, potential safety risks, and disruption to agricultural production. Developing and implementing irrigation projects that are specifically designed for freshwater water source conservation is vital to promoting climate and ecosystem sustainability. Therefore, this measure will provide much needed support for irrigation systems to bring them up to current safety standards.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting blank appropriation amounts; and

(2) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

Your Committees note that this measure, as amended, contains an unspecified appropriation amounts. Should your Committee on Ways and Means choose to deliberate on this measure, your Committees respectfully request that it consider inserting the following appropriation amounts which are the amounts the respective agencies anticipate being necessary to acquire, maintain, and repair irrigation systems throughout the State:

(1) $65,000,000 to the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity;

(2) $14,000,000 to the Department of Land and Natural Resources; and

(3) $350,000,000 to the Agribusiness Development Corporation.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Environment, Water, Land, Culture and the Arts, and Economic Development and Tourism that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2800, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2800, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Agriculture and Environment, Water, Land, Culture and the Arts, and Economic Development and Tourism,

________________________________ CHRIS LEE, Chair	________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair
	________________________________ LYNN DECOITE, Chair