Hawaii Water Plan:
Water Resource Protection Plan
The Commission is responsible for the preparation of the Water Resource Protection Plan (WRPP), which is a key component of the Hawaii Water Plan. The objective of the WRPP is to protect and sustain ground and surface water resources, watersheds, and natural stream environments statewide. Such protection requires a comprehensive study of occurrence, sustainability, conservation, augmentation, and other resource management measures.
Specifically, the State Water Code provides that the WRPP shall include, but not be limited to:
- Nature and occurrence of water resources in the State;
- Hydrologic units and their characteristics, including the quantity and quality of available resource, requirements for beneficial instream uses and environmental protection, desirable uses worthy of preservation by permit, and undesirable uses for which permits may be denied;
- Existing and contemplated uses of water, as identified in the water use and development plans of the State and the counties, their impact on the resources, and their consistency with objectives and policies established in the water resource protection quality plan; and
- Programs to conserve, augment, and protect the water resource.
Recognizing the wide-ranging scope of the WRPP, the Commission is developing the WRPP in phases. It will take many iterations before the WRPP can address the many elements, measures, and programs related to water resource protection and management.
The CWRM is currently in the process of updating the WRPP. The updated WRPP will contain an Implementation Plan that describes future efforts and studies to further the goal of resource protection.
Click to view the 1990 Water Resource Protection Plan [1.7 MB]
Top2008 Water Resource Protection Plan Update
The Commission is in the process of updating the Water Resource Protection Plan (WRPP). Recognizing the wide-ranging scope of the WRPP, the Commission is developing the WRPP in phases. It will take several iterations before the WRPP can address the many elements, measures, and programs related to water resource protection and management.
This current update to the WRPP includes policies, program directives, resource inventories, and recommendations across a broad spectrum of resource management issues. Efforts supporting this update focused on the following tasks:
- Declaration of Commission policies, goals, and objectives, including applicable Supreme Court rulings, Decision and Orders, Declaratory Rulings, and pertinent regulatory actions approved and/or adopted by the Commission;
- Update of ground water hydrologic units and sustainable yields;
- Establishment of surface water hydrologic units and a stream coding system, and the development of a surface water diversion database;
- Explanation and description of the Commission’s surface water management program and implementation plan;
- Development of statewide ground and surface water monitoring program priorities;
- Examination of water conservation and augmentation alternatives, drought preparedness and mitigation actions, and watershed protection programs; and
- Development of recommendations for future actions and funding requirements.
The Commission held statewide public hearings on the draft WRPP update in December 2007. The public comment period closed on January 11, 2008. A final draft of the Water Resource Protection Plan is available in Acrobat Acrobat (PDF) below. The final draft may also be reviewed at the Commission office at the Kalanimoku Building, Room 227, 1151 Punchbowl Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813.
Commission staff will be submitting a recommendation that the Commission adopt the updated WRPP at the August 28, 2008 Commission Meeting .
Submittal: Adoption of 2008 Water Resource Protection Plan Update
Download Entire Document [13.86 MB]
Download Document by Sections
Cover Page and Table of Contents [282 KB]Section 1 - Introduction [472 KB]
Section 2 - General Water Resource Management Principles and Policies [793 KB]
Section 3 - Inventory and Assessment of Resources [8.90 MB]
Section 4 - Monitoring of Water Resources [1.55 MB]
Section 5 - CWRM Regulatory Programs [162 KB]
Section 6 - Existing and Future Demands [308 KB]
Section 7 - Resource Conservation and Augmentation [254 KB]
Section 8 - Drought Planning [191 KB]
Section 9 - Watershed Protection [448 KB]
Section 10 - Water Quality [112 KB]
Section 11 - Priority Recommendations and Implementation Plan [126 KB]
Section 12 - References [133 KB]
Appendix A - Planning Context for the WRPP [72 KB]
Appendix B - CWRM Permit Process Diagrams [192 KB]
Appendix C - 1989 Declared Surface Water Use [281 KB]
