Bill > HCR39

This Concurrent Resolution requests the State and the City and County of Honolulu to establish a working group to address the challenges of maintaining streams that cross multiple jurisdictions. The resolution acknowledges that the State and counties are legally responsible for stream maintenance, which includes cleaning and improving drainage, while private property owners are responsible for streams on their land. However, the division of these responsibilities often hinders necessary maintenance, leading to increased damage and repair costs after heavy rainfall, which has historically caused significant loss of life and property damage on Oahu. The working group is tasked with identifying all streams on Oahu, determining their ownership and responsibilities, evaluating the pros and cons of private stream ownership, and proposing solutions for transferring ownership if private ownership is found to be detrimental. It will also assess how private owners are currently informed of their duties and how communication can be improved, identify necessary resources like funding and staff, and propose a maintenance schedule with assigned responsible parties. The working group will be co-chaired by representatives from the State's Board of Land and Natural Resources and the City and County of Honolulu's Department of Facility Maintenance, and will include other relevant state and city officials, with the goal of submitting a report with findings and recommendations to the Legislature by early 2023, after which the group will dissolve.