§174-5  Powers.  (a)  In addition to all
the powers granted to the board of land and natural resources in chapter 171
for the purpose of carrying out all of its functions and duties, the board
shall have the following powers for the purposes of this chapter:



(1)  To acquire by eminent domain, water and water
sources either above or underground, watershed, reservoir sites, rights-of-way
over lands and property for paths, trails, roads, and landing sites, ditches,
tunnels, flumes, reservoirs, and pipelines necessary or proper for the
construction and maintenance of water facilities for conveying, distributing,
and transmitting water for domestic use and for such other purposes as may
properly fall within the scope of its activities in creating, managing, controlling,
operating, and maintaining water facilities, any of which purposes shall be
held to be for a public use and purpose;



(2)  To make and execute contracts and other
instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of the powers of the board,
including, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, contracts and
other instruments for the purchase or sale of water and for the purchase or
lease of water facilities for the overall economic development of the area,
including but not limited to the land on which the facilities are situated, and
for securing to the owners and occupiers of land already using water in a
project a priority right to so much water from those of their sources and
facilities which are taken over for the project as is required for the purposes
or needs of the land, as such purposes or needs exist at the inception of the
project or are then contemplated in the immediate future;



(3)  To make and from time to time amend and repeal
bylaws and rules not inconsistent with this chapter, which upon compliance with
chapter 91 shall have the force and effect of law, to carry into effect the
powers and purposes of the board;



(4)  To make surveys for the purpose of determining
the engineering and economic feasibility of each project;



(5)  To conduct feasibility studies of the economic
potential of the area;



(6)  To determine the probable costs and value of
providing water for economic development in any proposed project;



(7)  To investigate and make surveys of water
resources, including the possibility and feasibility of inducing rain by
artificial or other means;



(8)  To define and redefine the boundaries of projects
and to consolidate or separate projects, existing or proposed pursuant to this
chapter, provided that in the event the redefinition of the boundaries of or
the consolidation or separation previously effected increases the total amount
required to be derived from acreage assessments upon lands within the existing
project or projects by more than five per cent or will require an increase in
the tolls charged for water supplied to the lands or will reduce the amount of
water normally available for distribution to the lands, then the redefinition,
consolidation, or separation may be accomplished only after notice has been
published and a public hearing held as required for the formation of a project
upon the initiative of the board.



At the hearing, right to protest and the
procedure relative to protest shall be the same as specified in section 174-17
concerning the formation of projects, and the proposed redefinition of
boundaries, consolidation, or separation of projects shall not be accomplished
if protests, such as would be sufficient to prevent the action if it were the
formation of a project, are filed by owners and lessees of land within the
existing project or projects affected thereby.



(b)  The board is empowered, upon petition of
land occupiers as provided by section 174-13, or upon petition of the Hawaiian
homes commission or upon its own initiative, to prepare detailed plans for the
acquisition or construction of facilities for economic development which in its
opinion are economically feasible, to prepare estimates of the probable cost of
each, and to prepare estimates of the water tolls and acreage assessments
required for the cost of operation and the amortization of the investment of
each project, so that the project shall be self-supporting. [L 1961, c 166, pt
of §3; am L 1965, c 96, §58; Supp, pt of §86-5; HRS §174-5; am L 1987, c 306,
§6]



 



Cross References



 



  Acquisition of real property, attorney general's approval,
see §107-10.



 



Case Notes



 



  Board's powers generally and under Small Reclamation Project
Act of 1956.  506 F.2d 572.