In designating an area for water use regulation, the commission shall consider the following:

(1) Whether an increase in water use or authorized planned use may cause the maximum rate of withdrawal from the ground water source to reach ninety per cent of the sustainable yield of the proposed ground water management area;
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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 174C-44

  • Authorized planned use: means the use or projected use of water by a development that has received the proper state land use designation and county development plan/community plan approvals. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 174C-3
  • Commission: means the commission on water resource management. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 174C-3
  • county: includes the city and county of Honolulu. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-22
  • Department: means the department of land and natural resources. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 174C-3
  • Ground water: means any water found beneath the surface of the earth, whether in perched supply, dike-confined, flowing, or percolating in underground channels or streams, under artesian pressure or not, or otherwise. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 174C-3
  • Sustainable yield: means the maximum rate at which water may be withdrawn from a water source without impairing the utility or quality of the water source as determined by the commission. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 174C-3
  • Water management area: means a geographic area which has been designated pursuant to § 174C-41 as requiring management of the ground or surface water resource, or both. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 174C-3
(2) There is an actual or threatened water quality degradation as determined by the department of health;
(3) Whether regulation is necessary to preserve the diminishing ground water supply for future needs, as evidenced by excessively declining ground water levels;
(4) Whether the rates, times, spatial patterns, or depths of existing withdrawals of ground water are endangering the stability or optimum development of the ground water body due to upconing or encroachment of salt water;
(5) Whether the chloride contents of existing wells are increasing to levels which materially reduce the value of their existing uses;
(6) Whether excessive preventable waste of ground water is occurring;
(7) Serious disputes respecting the use of ground water resources are occurring; or
(8) Whether water development projects that have received any federal, state, or county approval may result, in the opinion of the commission, in one of the above conditions.

Notwithstanding an imminent designation of a ground water management area conditioned on a rise in the rate of ground water withdrawal to a level of ninety per cent of the area’s sustainable yield, the commission, when such level reaches the eighty per cent level of the sustainable yield, may invite the participation of water users in the affected area to an informational hearing for the purposes of assessing the ground water situation and devising mitigative measures.

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