Hawaii Administrative Rules › Title 13 - DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES › Subtitle 7 - WATER RESOURCES › Chapter 168 - WATER USE, WELLS, AND STREAM DIVERSION WORKS › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 13-168-2 - Definitions

Current through June, 2024
As used in this chapter:
"Abandoned well" means any well that has been permanently
					 discontinued. Any well shall be deemed abandoned which has been allowed to
					 become unsealed, leaking, polluting, deteriorating in quality, uncontrollable,
					 buried, or which is in such a state of disrepair that continued use for the
					 purpose of obtaining ground water is impractical or unsafe.
"Chairperson" means the chairperson of the commission on
					 water resource management.
"Commission" means the commission on water resource
					 management.
"Department" means the department of land and natural
					 resources.
"Deputy" means the deputy to the chairperson of the
					 commission on water resource management.
"Diversion Works" (see "stream diversion works")
"Ground water" means any water found beneath the surface
					 of the earth, whether or not in perched, dike-confined, or basal supply; in
					 underground channels or streams; in standing, percolating, or flowing
					 condition; or under artesian pressure.
"Installation of pumps and pumping equipment" means the
					 placement and preparation for operation of pumps and pumping equipment,
					 including all construction involved in making entrance to the well, and
					 establishing seals and repairs to existing installations.
"Instream flow standard" means a quantity or flow of water
					 or depth of water which is required to be present at a specific location in a
					 stream system at certain specified times of the year to protect aquatic life,
					 wildlife, recreational, aesthetic, scenic, and other beneficial instream
					 uses.
"Instream use" means beneficial uses of stream water for
					 significant purposes which are located in the stream and which are achieved by
					 leaving the water in the stream. Instream uses include, but are not limited
					 to:
(1) Maintenance of aquatic life 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 scenic
					 waterways;
(5) Navigation;
(6) Instream hydropower generation;
(7) Maintenance of water quality;
(8) The conveyance of irrigation and domestic water
					 supplies to downstream points of diversion; and
(9) The protection of traditional and customary Hawaiian
					 rights.
"Interim instream flow standard" means a temporary
					 instream flow standard of immediate applicability, adopted by the commission
					 without the necessity of a public hearing, and terminating upon the
					 establishment of an instream flow standard.
"Noninstream use" means the use of stream water that is
					 diverted or removed from its stream channel and includes the use of stream
					 water outside of the channel for domestic, agricultural, and industrial
					 purposes.
"Person" means any individual, firm, association,
					 organization, partnership, estate, trust, corporation, or any governmental
					 unit.
"Pump installation" means the installation, replacement,
					 or repairs of any equipment and appurtenances utilized or intended for use in
					 withdrawing or obtaining water from a water source.
"Pump installation contractor" means any person licensed
					 in the State of Hawaii to install, replace, or repair pumps and pumping
					 equipment.
"Pumps and pumping equipment" means all equipment and
					 appurtenances utilized or intended for use in withdrawing or obtaining ground
					 water. It includes seals, tanks, fittings, measuring devices, and
					 controls.
"Reasonable-beneficial use" means the use of water in such
					 a quantity as is necessary for economic and efficient utilization, for a
					 purpose, and in a manner which is not wasteful and is both reasonable and
					 consistent with the state and county land use plans and the public
					 interest.
"Repairs" means any replacement, change, or modification
					 of any well, pump or pumping equipment, or stream diversion works. Routine
					 maintenance is not included in this definition.
"Stream" means any river, creek, slough, or natural
					 watercourse in which water usually flows in a defined bed or channel. 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 improved does not prevent the
					 watercourse from being a stream.
"Stream channel" means a natural or artificial watercourse
					 with a definite bed and banks which periodically or continuously contains
					 flowing water. The channel referred to is that which exists at the present
					 time, regardless of where the channel may have been located at any time in the
					 past.
"Stream diversion" means the act of diverting, pumping or
					 otherwise removing water from a stream into a channel, ditch, pipeline, or
					 other conduit.
"Stream diversion works" means any artificial structure,
					 excavation, pipeline, or other conduit constructed singly or in combination,
					 for the purpose of diverting or otherwise removing water from a stream into a
					 channel, ditch, tunnel, pipeline, etc.
"Stream reach" means a segment of a stream channel having
					 a defined upstream and downstream point.
"Stream system" means the aggregates of water features
					 comprising or associated with a stream, including the stream itself and its
					 tributaries, headwaters, ponds, wetlands, and estuary.
"Surface water" means both contained surface water (that
					 is, water upon the surface of the earth in bounds created naturally or
					 artificially including, but not limited to, streams, other watercourses, lakes,
					 reservoirs and diffused surface water (that is, water occurring upon the
					 surface of the ground other than in contained waterbodies). Water from natural
					 springs is surface water when it exits from the spring onto the earth's
					 surface.
"Water" or "waters of the state" means any and all water
					 on or beneath the surface of the ground, including natural or artificial
					 watercourses, lakes, ponds, or diffused surface water and water percolating,
					 standing, or flowing beneath the surface of the ground.
"Water management area" means a geographic area which has
					 been designated pursuant to chapter 13-171 as requiring management of the
					 ground or surface water resource, or both.
"Water source" means a place within or 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 a definitive ground water body; and
(2) specifically, a particular stream, other surface water
					 body, spring, tunnel, or well or related combination thereof.
"Well" means any excavation or opening into the ground, or
					 an artificial enlargement of a natural opening drilled, tunneled, dug, or
					 otherwise constructed for the location, exploration, development, injection, or
					 recharge of ground water and by which ground water is drawn or is capable of
					 being withdrawn or made to flow.
"Well construction" means the drilling, tunneling, digging
					 or otherwise constructing of a well for whatever purpose, including any
					 alteration or repairs of an existing well, but excluding the installation of
					 pumps and pumping equipment.
"Well driller" means any person licensed in the State of
					 Hawaii to construct, alter, or repair wells.
"Well seal" means an approved arrangement or device used
					 to cap a well or to establish and maintain a junction between the casing or
					 curbing of a well and the piping or equipment installed therein, the purpose or
					 function of which is to prevent pollutants from entering the well at the other
					 terminal.