Bill Text: HI SR11 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Land And Natural Resources' Commission On Water Resource Management To Conduct A Study On Water Resources For The Development Of Affordable Housing.

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-04-01 - The committee on WTL deferred the measure. [SR11 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-SR11-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	11
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

RequestING the Department of Land and Natural Resources' Commission on Water Resource Management to conduct a study on water resources for the development of affordable housing.

 

 

     WHEREAS, the State is currently in a housing crisis and will require an additional fifty-seven thousand affordable housing units by 2025 in order to meet long-term housing demands; and

 

     WHEREAS, from 2016 to 2020, only twenty percent of the housing needs for local residents below one hundred forty percent area median income (AMI) was met; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the Comprehensive Affordable Housing Plan to the Maui County Council, the Hawaiian Community Assets provided a plan to build five thousand new affordable homes for local renters and homebuyers in the next five years; and

 

     WHEREAS, there are limited tools available to Maui County to meet the needs of extremely and very low-income households below fifty percent AMI and low-and moderate-income households between sixty-one percent and one hundred percent AMI; and

 

     WHEREAS, despite the dire need for housing in Maui County, there are essential factors and concerns regarding the amount of potable and non-potable water supply available for residents; and

 

     WHEREAS, from July to October 2021, there was a water shortage declaration for Upcountry Maui, requesting residents to conserve water and reduce nonessential uses under a Stage 1 water shortage declaration; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Stage 1 water shortage declaration was also fueled by recent drought situations in Maui County that caused destructive wildfires; and

 

     WHEREAS, to address the ongoing shortage of affordable housing while also planning around drought conditions that impact water supply, there is a growing need to conduct a study on the Maui County water capacity to support residents; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, that the Department of Land and Natural Resources' Commission on Water Resource Management is requested to conduct a study on the capacity of potable and non-potable water in various regions across the County of Maui to determine if sufficient water capacity exists for the County to expand its affordable housing supply; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study shall include but is not limited to an examination pertaining to the County of Maui on natural and artificial water sources, water infrastructure, volume, current use, and projected use of potable and non-potable water; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study shall further investigate water resources available to accommodate residential development; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission on Water Resource Management is urged to consult and seek input from the community, any individual, or entity it deems necessary to complete the study; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission on Water Resource Management is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2023; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Department

of Land and Natural Resources, Deputy Director of the Division on Water Resource Management, Mayor of the County of Maui, and members of the Maui County Council.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Commission on Water Resource Management; Study; Water Capacity to Accommodate Development of Affordable Housing; Maui County