Hawaii Administrative Rules › Title 13 - DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES › Subtitle 7 - WATER RESOURCES › Chapter 190.1 - DAMS AND RESERVOIRS › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 13-190.1-2 - Definitions

Current through June, 2024
As used in this chapter unless otherwise provided:
"Alteration" means a change to an existing dam or
					 reservoir from the originally approved construction plans and specifications or
					 current condition.
"Application approval" means authorization in writing
					 issued by the board to an owner who has applied to the board for permission to
					 construct, enlarge, repair, alter, remove, maintain, or operate a dam or
					 reservoir and which specifies the conditions or limitations under which work is
					 to be performed by the owner or under which approval is granted.
"Appurtenant works" or "appurtenance" means any structure,
					 such as spillways in the dam or separate therefrom, the reservoir and its rim,
					 including artificial or natural barriers that function as the rim, low level
					 outlet works, and water conduits, such as tunnels, pipelines, or penstocks,
					 through the dam or its abutment that is anticipated to affect the structural
					 integrity of the dam or reservoir.
"Board" means the board of land and natural
					 resources.
"Certificate of approval to impound" means authorization
					 in writing issued by the board to an owner of an existing dam or reservoir, or
					 an owner who has completed construction, enlargement, repair, or alteration of
					 a dam or reservoir, that specifies the conditions or limitations under which
					 the dam or reservoir is to be maintained and operated.
"Dam" means any artificial barrier, including appurtenant
					 works, which impounds or diverts water and:
(1) Is twenty-five feet or more in height from the natural
					 bed of the stream or watercourse measured at the downstream toe of the barrier,
					 or from the lowest elevation of the outside limit of the barrier if it is not
					 across a stream channel or watercourse, to a maximum water storage
					 elevation;
(2) Has an impounding capacity at maximum water storage
					 elevation of fifty acre-feet or more. This chapter shall not apply to any
					 artificial barrier which is less than six feet in height regardless of storage
					 capacity or which has a storage capacity at maximum water storage elevation
					 less than fifteen acre-feet regardless of height;
(3) Was included in circular C 122 (Revised) entitled "Dams
					 within the jurisdiction of the State of Hawaii" dated September 1998;
(4) Any facility that has two or more reservoirs that
					 operate or function as a single facility or are connected together with an
					 uncontrolled conduit, which shall be construed to be one dam or reservoir. The
					 highest height of any of the embankments and the combined maximum storage
					 volume shall be used as the criteria for determining if the structure is a dam
					 under this chapter; or
(5) Is a natural structure that retains water and has been
					 altered by the addition of an outlet works and has a maximum storage volume
					 greater than fifty acre-feet.
"Department" means the department of land and natural
					 resources.
"Design water level" means the water elevation that a dam
					 is designed to store, including the flood surcharge, that a dam is designed to
					 impound without overtopping the dam crest. The design water level
					 &#9632;&#9632; shall not include freeboard.
"Emergency" means, but is not limited to, breaches and all
					 conditions leading to or causing a breach, overtopping, or any other condition
					 in a dam and its appurtenant structures that may be construed as unsafe or
					 threatening to life or property.
"Engineer" means a registered professional engineer,
					 licensed by the State of Hawaii, and who has experience with dam design and
					 construction,
"Enlargement" means any change in or addition to an
					 existing dam or reservoir which raises or may raise the maximum water storage
					 elevation of the reservoir.
"Freeboard" means the vertical distance above the maximum
					 water surface during the peak discharge in the emergency spillway during the
					 inflow design flood (IDF) to the lowest point on the crest of the dam at which
					 water would flow over the dam at a section not designed for overflow.
"Hazard potential" means the possible adverse incremental
					 consequences that result from the release of water or stored contents due to
					 the failure of the dam or reservoir or operational failures of the dam,
					 reservoir, or appurtenances. The hazard potential classification of a dam or
					 reservoir shall not reflect in any way on the current condition of the dam or
					 reservoir and its appurtenant works, including the dam's or reservoir's safety,
					 structural integrity, or flood routing capacity.
"High hazard" means a dam's or reservoir's failure will
					 result in probable loss of human life.
"Inflow design flood" is the flood hydrograph used in the
					 design or evaluation of a dam, its appurtenant works particularly for sizing
					 the spillway and outlet works, with which the upper limit of the inflow design
					 flood is the probable maximum flood.
"Low hazard" means a dam's or reservoir's failure would
					 result in no probable loss of human life and low economic loss or environmental
					 loss, or both. Economic losses are principally limited to the owner's
					 property.
"Maximum water storage elevation" means the maximum water
					 surface elevation that can be hydrologically attained in the reservoir, or at
					 the dam crest elevation if hydrologic loading is unknown.
"Operator" means any person who controls, manages,
					 maintains, or supervises the condition and functions of a dam or
					 reservoir.
"Outlet works" means a tunnel or pipe/conduit (low level
					 outlet) that is used to drain the reservoir and often used to regulate flow to
					 downstream users.
"Owner" means any person who has a right, title, or
					 interest in or to the dam or reservoir or to the property upon which the dam or
					 appurtenant works is located or proposed to be located.
"Person" means any natural person, partnership, firm,
					 association, organization, corporation, county, county authority, trust,
					 receiver or trustee, limited liability company, limited liability partnership,
					 or company, or any state department, agency, or political subdivision, or any
					 other commercial or legal entity. Whenever used in a section prescribing and
					 imposing a penalty or sanction, the term "person" shall include the members of
					 an association or organization, and the officers of a corporation, company,
					 municipality, or municipal authority.
"Physical clear access" means a roadway or path that
					 allows timely access for inspection to a dam, reservoir, and its appurtenant
					 works. If by a roadway, the roadway shall be maintained in an accessible
					 condition by a four-wheel-drive vehicle even during inclement weather
					 conditions.
"Probable" means more likely than not to occur, reasonably
					 expected, realistic.
"Removal" means complete removal or partial removal of the
					 dam or reservoir embankment or structure to restore the approximate original
					 topographic contours of the valley.
"Repair" means construction to an existing dam or
					 appurtenant works that does not significantly change the reservoir's storage
					 capacity or alter significantly the existing structure as it exists. Repair
					 shall not apply to routine maintenance not affecting the safety of the dam or
					 appurtenant works.
"Reservoir" means any basin which contains or will contain
					 water impounded by a dam, including appurtenant works.
"Significant hazard" means a dam's or reservoir's failure
					 will result in no probable loss of human life but can cause major economic
					 loss, environmental damage, disruption of lifeline facilities, or impact other
					 concerns. Significant hazard potential classification dams or reservoirs are
					 often located in predominantly rural or agricultural areas but could be located
					 in areas with population and significant infrastructure.
"Spillway" means a device which conveys flood waters from
					 the reservoir past the dam without endangering its safety or integrity.
"Spillway crest" means the lowest point in the spillway
					 above which water can flow over or through the spillway.
"Storage capacity" means the maximum volume of water and
					 material which could be impounded by a dam when the water level is at the top
					 of the dam or at the highest elevation which could be hydrologically attained,
					 if this elevation is below the top of dam.