§179-2  Definitions.  The following
terms, whenever used and referred to in this chapter, shall have the following
respective meanings, unless a different meaning clearly appears in the context:



"Abnormal tidal action" includes high
seas or surf, hurricane floods, and tsunami or seismic waves.



"Board" means the board of land and
natural resources.



"Department" means the department of
land and natural resources.



"Drainage" means the collection and
conveyance of surface or subsurface water, storm runoff, or any other water to
a disposal area, or into a watercourse or standing body of water to reduce
damage to lands which are not necessarily adjacent to the watercourse or
standing body of water, or to reclaim lands for beneficial use.



"Drainage facilities" means any
manmade construction undertaken for drainage purposes and shall include
conduits, ditches, canals, dikes, embankments, dams, reservoirs, and other
appropriate facilities.



"Drainage measures" includes drainage
facilities, land treatment, statutory and building code requirements relating
to drainage, and any other measures intended to accomplish drainage purposes.



"Flood" means the temporary
inundation of usable lands caused by the overflow of an adjacent natural
watercourse or standing body of water.



"Flood control", "flood water
control", and "flood prevention", mean the minimizing of flood
damage, by appropriate protective, preventive, and corrective measures.



"Flood control measures" includes
flood control works, land treatment, master planning and zoning to establish
encroachment zones along watercourses and adjacent to standing bodies of water,
training of flood fighting units, flood disaster plans and operations, and any
other measures relating to flood control, flood water conservation and flood
damage.



"Flood control plan", "general
flood control plan", and "plan" mean the report entitled General
Flood Control Plan for Hawaii (Volume II of Flood Control and Flood Water
Conservation in Hawaii), published by the board in January, 1963.



"Flood control program" when
referring to a specific watershed or subwatershed, means all existing or
planned flood control measures relating to such area; when referring to the
statewide flood control program means the general flood control plan and all activities
of the board and department pursuant to this chapter.



"Flood control project",
"federal flood control project", and "state flood control
project" mean, respectively:  (1) specific flood control works which
comprise all or a portion of the works needed to complete a specific flood
control program; (2) a flood control project authorized and implemented
pursuant to the Federal Flood Control Act of 1936 or the Watershed Protection
and Flood Prevention Act of 1958, as amended or supplemented, and (3) a flood
control project sponsored and financed by the State and authorized and
implemented pursuant to section 179-4(3).



"Flood control works", "works of
improvement", "works", or "flood control facilities"
mean any manmade construction undertaken to confine storm runoff within a
natural watercourse, conserve such runoff, or lessen the energy and effect of
abnormal tidal action, and shall include conduits, ditches, canals, levees,
dikes, embankments, dams, reservoirs, breakwaters, groins, seawalls, and other
appropriate facilities.



"Flood water conservation" means the
confinement, storage, and beneficial utilization of storm runoff by the
construction, operation, maintenance, and supervision of drainage and flood
control facilities.



"Political subdivision" means any of
the several counties under existence in the State by virtue of the laws of
Hawaii or any legally organized district or political incorporation thereof.



"Standing body of water" means a
fresh water pond, lake, or reservoir, or the Pacific Ocean along an extended
shoreline or a tidal inlet such as a bay, harbor, pond, or estuary.



"United States" means the United
States of America, including the agencies, instrumentalities, officers, agents,
or employees thereof.



"Watercourse" or "natural watercourse"
means any river, stream, gulch, gully, valley floor, or any other naturally
formed channel having a bed and sides or banks in which water flows either
perennially or intermittently.  "Natural watercourse" shall also
include a drainage ditch in existence after seven years from installation but
shall not include a ravine, swale, or similar depression within which water
flows only during rainfall. [L 1961, c 34, §2; am L 1963, c 148, pt of §1;
Supp, §87C-2; HRS §179-2]



 



Revision Note



 



  Definitions rearranged.