§174C-3  Definitions.  As used in thischapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

"Agricultural use" means the use ofwater for the growing, processing, and treating of crops, livestock, aquaticplants and animals, and ornamental flowers and similar foliage.

"Authorized planned use" means theuse or projected use of water by a development that has received the properstate land use designation and county development plan/community planapprovals.

"Board" means the board of land andnatural resources.

"Chairperson" means the chairpersonof the commission on water resource management.

"Change in use" means anymodification or change in water use from or to domestic, municipal, military,agriculture (including agricultural processing), or industrial uses.

"Channel alteration" means:  (1) toobstruct, diminish, destroy, modify, or relocate a stream channel; (2) tochange the direction of flow of water in a stream channel; (3) to place anymaterial or structures in a stream channel; and (4) to remove any material orstructures from a stream channel.

"Commission" means the commission onwater resource management.

"Continuous flowing water" means asufficient flow of water that could provide for migration and movement of fish,and includes those reaches of streams which, in their natural state, normallygo dry seasonally at the location of the proposed alteration.

"Department" means the department ofland and natural resources.

"Domestic use" means any use of waterfor individual personal needs and for household purposes such as drinking,bathing, heating, cooking, noncommercial gardening, and sanitation.

"Emergency" means the absence of asufficient quantity and quality of water in any area whether designated or notwhich threatens the public health, safety, and welfare as determined by thecommission.

"Existing agricultural use" meansreplacing or alternating the cultivation of any agricultural crop with anyother agricultural crop, which shall not be construed as a change in use.

"Ground water" means any water foundbeneath the surface of the earth, whether in perched supply, dike-confined,flowing, or percolating in underground channels or streams, under artesianpressure or not, or otherwise.

"Hydrologic unit" means a surfacedrainage area or a ground water basin or a combination of the two.

"Impoundment" means any lake,reservoir, pond, or other containment of surface water occupying a bed ordepression in the earth's surface and having a discernible shoreline.

"Instream flow standard" means a quantityor flow of water or depth of water which is required to be present at aspecific location in a stream system at certain specified times of the year toprotect fishery, wildlife, recreational, aesthetic, scenic, and otherbeneficial instream uses.

"Instream use" means beneficial usesof stream water for significant purposes which are located in the stream andwhich are achieved by leaving the water in the stream.  Instream uses include,but are not limited to:

(1)  Maintenance of fish and wildlife habitats;

(2)  Outdoor recreational activities;

(3)  Maintenance of ecosystems such as estuaries,wetlands, and stream vegetation;

(4)  Aesthetic values such as waterfalls and scenicwaterways;

(5)  Navigation;

(6)  Instream hydropower generation;

(7)  Maintenance of water quality;

(8)  The conveyance of irrigation and domestic watersupplies to downstream points of diversion; and

(9)  The protection of traditional and customaryHawaiian rights.

"Interim instream flow standard"means a temporary instream flow standard of immediate applicability, adopted bythe commission without the necessity of a public hearing, and terminating uponthe establishment of an instream flow standard.

"Municipal use" means the domestic,industrial, and commercial use of water through public services available topersons of a county for the promotion and protection of their health, comfort,and safety, for the protection of property from fire, and for the purposeslisted under the term "domestic use".

"Noninstream use" means the use ofstream water that is diverted or removed from its stream channel and includesthe use of stream water outside of the channel for domestic, agricultural, andindustrial purposes.

"Nonregulated use" means any use ofwater which is exempted from regulation by the provisions of this code.

"Person" means any and all persons,natural or artificial, including an individual, firm, association,organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, company, the UnitedStates of America, the State of Hawaii, and all political subdivisions,municipalities, and public agencies thereof.

"Reasonable-beneficial use" means theuse of water in such a quantity as is necessary for economic and efficientutilization, for a purpose, and in a manner which is both reasonable andconsistent with the state and county land use plans and the public interest.

"Stream" means any river, creek,slough, or natural watercourse in which water usually flows in a defined bed orchannel.  It is not essential that the flowing be uniform or uninterrupted. The fact that some parts of the bed or channel have been dredged or improveddoes not prevent the watercourse from being a stream.

"Stream channel" means a natural orartificial watercourse with a definite bed and banks which periodically orcontinuously contains flowing water.  The channel referred to is that whichexists at the present time, regardless of where the channel may have beenlocated at any time in the past.

"Stream diversion" means the act ofremoving water from a stream into a channel, pipeline, or other conduit.

"Stream reach" means a segment of astream channel having a defined upstream and downstream point.

"Stream system" means the aggregateof water features comprising or associated with a stream, including the streamitself and its tributaries, headwaters, ponds, wetlands, and estuary.

"Surface water" means both containedsurface water--that is, water upon the surface of the earth in bounds creatednaturally or artificially including, but not limited to, streams, otherwatercourses, lakes, reservoirs, and coastal waters subject to statejurisdiction--and diffused surface water--that is, water occurring upon thesurface of the ground other than in contained water bodies.  Water from naturalsprings is surface water when it exits from the spring onto the earth'ssurface.

"Sustainable yield" means the maximumrate at which water may be withdrawn from a water source without impairing theutility or quality of the water source as determined by the commission.

"Time of withdrawal or diversion"means, in view of the nature, manner, and purposes of a reasonable andbeneficial use of water, the most accurate method of describing the time whenthe water is withdrawn or diverted, including description in terms of hours, days,weeks, months, or physical, operational, or other conditions.

"Water" or "waters of theState" means any and all water on or beneath the surface of the ground,including natural or artificial watercourses, lakes, ponds, or diffused surfacewater and water percolating, standing, or flowing beneath the surface of theground.

"Watercourse" means a stream and anycanal, ditch, or other artificial watercourse in which water usually flows in adefined bed or channel.  It is not essential that the flowing be uniform oruninterrupted.

"Water management area" means ageographic area which has been designated pursuant to section 174C-41 asrequiring management of the ground or surface water resource, or both.

"Water source" means a place withinor from which water is or may be developed, including but not limited to:  (1)generally, an area such as a watershed defined by topographic boundaries, or adefinitive ground water body; and (2) specifically, a particular stream, othersurface water body, spring, tunnel, or well or related combination thereof.

"Well" means an artificial excavationor opening into the ground, or an artificial enlargement of a natural openingby which ground water is drawn or is or may be used or can be made to be usableto supply reasonable and beneficial uses within the State. [L 1987, c 45, pt of§2; am L 1998, c 101, §2]

 

Case Notes

 

  Commission did not err in excluding golf course irrigationfrom the category of "agricultural use".  94 H. 97, 9 P.3d 409.

  The "reasonable-beneficial use" standard and therelated criterion of "consistent with the public interest" demandexamination of the proposed use not only standing alone, but also in relationto other public and private uses and the particular water source in question;thus, permit applicants requesting water diverted from streams must duly takeinto account the public interest in instream flows.  94 H. 97, 9 P.3d 409.

  Where it could not be said that closure of hotel and golfcourse would have no impact on applicant's proposed uses in light of commissionon water resource management's findings and conclusions pursuant to the"reasonable-beneficial use" standard set forth in §174C-49 anddefined in this section, commission's reliance on §174C-58(4), allowingapplicant four years to fulfill its proposed uses before the commission maysuspend or revoke a permit, was misplaced; as commission failed to consider theimpact the closures may have on applicant's proposed uses when it made itsproposed use allocation decision, proposed use permit vacated.  116 H. 481, 174P.3d 320.