Haw. Code R. § 4-157-4 - Conservation measures and interruption of water supply
(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.
(i) During periods of low rainfall or
drought, the department shall develop notices and criteria on the manner in
which water will be delivered, restricted, and allocated for the duration of
the emergency. Violations of the restrictions or allocations may result in the
discontinuance of service, additional water toll surcharges, or the removal of
the water connection.
(j) Upon
declaration of emergency conditions and implementation of mandatory
conservation measures (i.e., ten per cent, twenty per cent, or thirty per cent
cutbacks), consumers exceeding the level of mandatory cutback shall be assessed
a surcharge as follows:
(1) Mandatory ten per
cent conservation - consumers shall be assessed a surcharge of ten cents per
thousand gallons of water consumed in excess of ninety per cent of their
average use as calculated by the administrator-chief engineer;
(2) Mandatory twenty per cent conservation
-consumers shall be assessed a surcharge of twenty cents per thousand gallons
of water consumed in excess of eighty per cent of their average use as
calculated by the administrator-chief engineer; and
(3) Mandatory thirty per cent conservation
-consumers shall be assessed a surcharge of thirty cents per thousand gallons
of water consumed- in excess of seventy per cent of their average use as
calculated by the administrator-chief engineer.
(k) Notwithstanding any provision herein to
the contrary, subsection (j) shall not apply to the users of the Molokai
Irrigation System who are also lessees of the department of Hawaiian home lands
(homesteaders), provided that an actual need is shown and the homesteader's
aggregate irrigation water consumption remains at or below two-thirds of the
water developed in the first phase of the construction of the Molokai
Irrigation System, based on the most current monthly three year average of
non-drought years. Should the homesteader's use exceed the homesteader's
two-thirds preference, the homesteader shall be subject to the terms and
conditions contained in subsection (j) The homesteader shall be subject to
subsection (j) until the homesteader's usage falls to a two-thirds to one-third
ratio or less, based on the most current monthly three year average of
non-drought years, or until the conservation notice for the Molokai Irrigation
System is canceled, whichever first occurs.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.