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Show 244 HAWAII Supreme Court may apply different rules to ground water in definite underground streams, but just what these rules might be has not yet been made clear by the Hawaii Court.1 2. State Organizational Structure for Water Administration and Control 2.1 Administration of Water Rights The board of land and natural resources has been delegated certain limited authority with respect to the water resources of the State. This includes the power to collect and correlate information con- cerning the water resources of the State, and to initiate and conduct surveys of the state's water resources for the formulation of a master plan for the development, conservation, and most beneficial use of all the water resources. The board may study possible methods of converting nonpotable water to beneficial purposes, and may assist certain other designated agencies in planning the development of water for domestic and industrial water supply systems. The board may construct facilities and projects for irrigation, domestic pur- poses and other related uses, and has the power of eminent domain to acquire water rights and the land needed for the construction of facilities. But no authority is granted this agency to allocate or regulate the surface water resources of the State.2 The board may designate critical groud water areas for control and regulation, see section 4, infra. The board of land and natural resources is also empowered to con- struct projects for conveying and distributing water for irrigation and domestic use and other public purposes.3 This authority and certain other responsibilities of this Board will be discussed in more detail in sections 2.3 and 4 of this chapter. 2.2 Resolution of Water Use Conflicts A statutory procedure for the settlement of water right disputes has existed in Hawaii for more than a century.4 However, this pro- gram has been modified somewhat from its original format. Under the original statutory procedure, the adjudication of rights was ac- complished by Commissioners of private ways and water rights. Later, the act was amended to provide that the judges within their respective circuits act as the commissioners to determine all water right controversies under the statute. Thus, a judge, when acting pursuant to this statutory procedure, must be distinguished from the same judge hearing a water right dispute as a matter in equity or law.5 iHutchins, The Hawaiian System of Water Rights, 47-203 (1946) ; Cades, Hawaiian System of Water Rights, 59 Journal of American Water Works Association 925-927 (1967) ; Hutching, Background and Modern Developments in State Water-Rights Law, 1 Waters and Water Rights 64-65, 160-161 (Clark ed. 1967). 2 Hawaii Rev. Stat., sees. 176-1 to 176-9. 8 Hawaii Rev. Stat., sees. 174-1 to 174-22. *Hutchins, Background and Modern Developments in State Water-Rights Law, 1 Waters and Water Rights 132 (Clark ed. 1967). BHutchins, The Hawaiian System of Water Rights, 48-51 (1946) ; Hawaii Rev. Stat sees. 664-31 to 664-37. |