HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

208

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING THE ADOPTion of RULES RESTRICTING COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES and implementing an effective restoration and conservation management plan for THE HANAPEPE AND WAIMEA RIVERS on KAUAI.

 

 

WHEREAS, river restoration is becoming increasingly important as the demands made on our freshwater ecosystems for drinking water, fisheries habitats, and outdoor recreation rise with our population and our appreciation of the importance of these freshwater ecological resources; and

WHEREAS, when the Environmental Protection Agency released a study of Hawaii’s waterways in 2001 it showed 111 polluted coastal waters and streams, including 16 polluted waterways on Kauai alone—a significant increase from a 1998 tally; and

WHEREAS, the Kauai Westside Watershed Council (KWWC), in cooperation with other regional organizations, has been at the forefront of efforts to restore and preserve impaired waterways on the Garden Island; and

WHEREAS, in West Kauai, the Hanapepe and Waimea rivers will continue to endanger human health and the sustainability of the environmental watershed unless effective management is established; and

WHEREAS, KWWC seeks to have the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) adopt rules to better manage the two rivers by:

  1. Establishing noncommercial zones;
  2. Designating these zones to encourage and support regional sustenance, recreation, and Hawaiian gathering rights, and recognize their historical importance; and
  3. Restoring these activities and monitoring and enforcing restrictions through a partnership between KWWC and DLNR;

now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the Senate concurring, that DLNR is requested to propose to the Board of Land and Natural Resources rules that would restrict commercial activity and implement an effective restoration and conservation management plan for the Hanapepe and Waimea rivers, as drafted by KWWC and the DLNR's Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chair of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, the Administrator of the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, and the Kauai Westside Watershed Council.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

DLNR; Restoration and Conservation Plan for Hanapepe and Waimea Rivers.