Hawaii Administrative Rules › Title 4 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE › Subtitle 8 - DIVISION OF AGRICULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT › Chapter 157 - RULES GOVERNING IRRIGATION WATER SERVICE TO CONSUMERS OF HAWAII STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE › Section 4-157-4 - Conservation measures and interruption of water supply

Current through June, 2024
(a) The department shall exercise reasonable
				diligence and care to deliver an adequate supply of water to the consumer and
				to avoid shortage or interruptions in water service, whenever possible, but
				shall not be liable for any interruption, shortage, insufficiency of supply, or
				any loss or damage occasioned thereby.
(b) Whenever, in the administrator-chief
				engineer's opinion, special conservation measures are deemed necessary to
				forestall a water shortage and a consequent emergency, the administrator-chief
				engineer may restrict or ration the use of water by any reasonable method of
				control. Livestock watering customers shall install an automatic water flow
				control device to prevent waste or continued overflow from livestock drinking
				troughs. Each device shall be approved by the irrigation district manager prior
				to installation and shall be tested periodically to determine its
				functionality.
(c) To ensure that a
				continuous water supply is available to livestock, the department may require
				those consumers with a large herd (more than fifty animals) of animals to
				install an adequate means of storage for water or reservoir on their
				property.
(d) The department
				reserves the right at any and all times to shut off water from the mains with
				reasonable notice for the purpose of making repairs, extensions, alterations,
				or for other reasons. Consumers who require a continuous supply of water shall
				provide, at their own cost, emergency water storage and any check valves or
				other devices necessary for the protection of equipment or fixtures against
				failure of the pressure or supply of water in the department's main. Repairs or
				improvements shall be carried out as rapidly as practicable and at the time or
				times as will cause the least inconvenience to consumers.
(e) The department will deliver water to the
				land of each consumer at the ground elevation and at the outlet site as the
				department may establish upon each consumer's land convenient with the
				operation of the department's irrigation system , and it shall be the
				responsibility of each consumer to provide for the distribution of the water
				upon the consumer's land by the consumer's own method.
(f) During seasonal drought periods, a
				shortage of irrigation water within an irrigation system may occur. During
				these periods, the department shall continue to supply irrigation and livestock
				drinking water as available. However, the department shall use its best
				judgment in allocating the available agricultural water in a manner that it
				deems fair and equitable.
(g) The
				department reserves the right in times of declared emergency to allow the use
				of irrigation water for emergency purposes. Charges for the water used shall be
				established by the board based on the nature of the emergency and attendant
				circumstances.
(h) The department
				reserves the right to allocate water use in the following order of priority as
				it may deem necessary to:
(1) Preserve crops
				and harvests on agricultural and aquacultural lands;
(2) Preserve animal life; and
(3) Irrigate pasture.