HI HCR163

Requests the Board of Land and Natural Resources to enter into a long-term water lease with Waioli Valley Taro Hui for the Hui's existing use of water from Waioli Stream via direct negotiation upon completion of Chapter 343 (environmental assessment) requirements.

Recognizes Waioli Valley Taro Hui's century-long stewardship of traditional loʻi kalo (taro patch) cultivation in Waioli Valley, Kauai, which represents one of only six Hawaii streams that historically supported more than fifty acres of kalo cultivation.

Acknowledges that 2018 floods destroyed the historic mānowai (instream diversion structure) and ʻauwai (irrigation ditch), with the Legislature appropriating disaster recovery funds through Acts 12 (2018) and 35 (2019) for repairs.

States that the Board of Land and Natural Resources' perpetual easement approval represents the first co-management of natural and cultural resources between a community group and the Board, and that the traditional loʻi kalo system uses water in a nonconsumptive, nonpolluting manner.

Affirms that a long-term water lease protects native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices as mandated by Article XII, Section 7 of the Hawaii State Constitution and supports food security, community resilience, flood mitigation, and groundwater recharge.