Opinion ID: 2629221
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: DHHL's reservation in the Kualapu'u aquifer

Text: The Commission concluded that a reservation of water was not an existing legal use, for purposes of HRS § 174C-49(a)(3) and HAR § 13-171-63, see supra note 13, for two reasons. First, because HRS § 174C-49(d) separately denotes existing legal uses and reservations, the Commission determined that it was incongruous to equate a reservation with an existing legal use. The Commission further noted that to so interpret the term reservation would render the proviso language of HRS § 174C-49(d) nugatory. Second, the Commission concluded that all lawful reservations were aquifer-specific. See HAR §§ 13-171-61,-62, and-63 (delineating with particularity the aquifer system wherein a reservation is designated). In this regard, DHHL's existing 2.905 mgd reservation was limited to the Kualapu'u aquifer system, pursuant to HAR § 13-171-63, see supra note 13. Therefore, inasmuch as MR-Wai'ola's proposed water use was located in the Kamiloloa aquifer system, the Commission concluded that it did not interfere with DHHL's reservation in the Kualapu'u aquifer system. The Commission further reasoned that, [t]o extend the reservation to an adjacent aquifer, especially where the evidence clearly demonstrates that there will be minimal, if any, impact on the DHHL well in Kualapu'u, does not comport with the intent of section 174C-49(d). To do so, at its most extreme, would result in DHHL having a blanket reservation in all adjacent aquifers without going through the regulatory process required by chapter 13-171, HAR, and chapter 174C, HRS.