Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 7, Number 4, 1 ʻApelila 1990 — Use declarations must be completed [ARTICLE]

Use declarations must be completed

Water commission savs survev needed

Those persons who registered dec!arations of water use under the state Water Code (May 1989) with the Commission on Water Resource Management have until September to provide necessary additional information to complete and clarify the declaration. On Feb. 28, the water commission held a special meeting on the status of the declarations already filed. The commission proposed categorizing declarants based on the descriptions they gave of existing water uses. The commission announced it intends to deny unused appurtenant water rights and non-consumptive instream uses. "Appurtenant water rights" means the right to the use of water for parcels of land that were in traditional cultivation at the time of the original conversion to private ownership of land in 1848 (the Great Mahele.) Instream uses means using water in the stream whieh include maintaining fish and wildlife habitats, outdoor recreation, the aesthetic consideration of all waterfalls and scenic waterways, and the protection of traditional and customary Hawaiian rights (gathering of o'opu, hihiwai, opae, and limu). Testimony was presented by individuals and groups including the Native Hawaiian Advisory

Council that cleared up some of the controversy over whether appurtenant water rights (though not in use along with instream water uses) ean be certified. Williamson Chang, a professor of law at the University of Hawai'i Law School and a director of the Native Hawaiian Advisory Council, for the past 10 years, has been involved in water issues, has written many articles and iectured extensively on the topic. According to Chang, appurtenant water rights, although presently unused, plus non-eon-sumptive instream uses, qua!ify for possible certification. Based on the concerns raised the water eommission concluded that no decision could be made until the commission staff researches the issue and conducts a statewide survey of the extent of such rights. As to instream uses, the commission will continue to review the possibility of certification. The water commission said it is still accepting declaration forms even though the deadline was May, 1989. However, declarations are stamped with the date they are received.

The commission has notified people who need to provide more information on their declarations. The commission will notify declarants of its recommendations. The exact deadline for providing additiona! information will be announced. The staff of the water commission may be reached in Honolulu, for assistance or additional information, at 548-2316 or 548-3948. People on the outer islands may eall 1-800-468-4644, toll free, and ask for the Honolulu numbers. The Native Hawaiian Advisory Council will be contacting declarants who filed through its organization and may be reached at 523-1445. The staff will assist declarants who need help. There were 7,300 declarations of water use filed by approximately 2,600 declarants. Nearly onehalf of those declarants who filed declarations were directly serviced through the Native Hawaiian Advisory Council, a Hawaiian non-profit grassroots organization formed by attorney Elizabeth Pa Martin. Chang, one of the council's directors, implemented the Water Rights Awareness Project. Under his guidance the eouneil was able to alert Hawaiians of the critical need to protect their Native Hawaiian water rights and uses.