REPORT TITLE:
Water Code; Agriculture


DESCRIPTION:
Provides the Board of Agriculture, under the State Water Code,
with comparable authority over irrigation water as the county
water agencies exercise over water for municipal purposes.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.368        
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO THE STATE WATER CODE.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that the board of
 
 2 agriculture's authority over irrigation water under the state
 
 3 water code should be comparable to the authority exercised by the
 
 4 county water agencies over water for municipal purposes.  Since
 
 5 both systems provide for the public's health and welfare, both
 
 6 systems should stand on equal footing with one another.  The
 
 7 purpose of this Act is to provide the board of agriculture with
 
 8 the same authority over the water it purveys as does the county
 
 9 water agencies over the water that it purveys.
 
10      SECTION 2.  Section 174C-48, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
11 amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
 
12      "(b)  In its regulation of water resources in designated
 
13 water management areas, the commission shall delegate to the
 
14 [county boards of water supply]:
 
15      (1)  County water agencies the authority to allocate the use
 
16           of water for municipal purposes, subject to the limits
 
17           of water supply allocated to the county [boards of
 
18           water supply] water agencies in their role as water
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.368        
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           purveyors[.];
 
 2      (2)  Board of agriculture the authority to allocate the use
 
 3           of water for agricultural irrigation purposes subject
 
 4           to the limits of water supply allocated to the board of
 
 5           agriculture in its role as irrigation water purveyors
 
 6           under chapters 167 and 168."
 
 7      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
 8 New statutory material is underscored.
 
 9      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
10 
 
11                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________