Haw. Rev. Stat. » Haw. Rev. Stat. / Chapter 174C
Hawaii Revised Statutes

Haw. Rev. Stat. § 174C-4 (2026)

] Scope

✓ current as of July 2026
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     [§174C-4]  Scope.  (a)  All waters of the State are subject to regulation under the provisions of this chapter unless specifically exempted.  No provision of this chapter shall apply to coastal waters.  Nothing in this chapter to the contrary shall restrict the planning or zoning power of any county under chapter 46.

     (b)  No state or county government agency may enforce any statute, rule, or order affecting the waters of the State controlled under the provisions of this chapter, whether enacted or promulgated before or after July 1, 1987, inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter.  Nothing in this chapter to the contrary shall restrict the power of any county to plan or zone as provided in chapter 46.

     (c)  No state or county government agency or other person having the power of eminent domain or condemnation under the laws of the State, may exercise the power with respect to condemning property if the condemnation will materially affect water resources in the State, without the written permission of the commission.

     (d)  No right, title, or interest in the use of any water resources of the State can be acquired by prescription. [L 1987, c 45, pt of §2]

 

Note

 

  Interpretation of county function.  L 1987, c 45, §6.

 

Revision Note

 

  "July 1, 1987" substituted for "the effective date of this chapter".

 

Case Notes

 

  As water code expressly reserves the counties' authority with respect to land use planning and policy, commission allegedly imposing a "directive" on the counties to designate priorities among proposed uses did not usurp counties' land use planning and zoning authority.  94 H. 97, 9 P.3d 409 (2000).

 

 

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1 case, 2000–2000 · leading case: In Re Water Use Permit Applications, 9 P.3d 409 (Haw. 2000).
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In Re Water Use Permit Applications, 9 P.3d 409 (Haw. 2000). “HRS § 174C-4 (1993) further provides: “Nothing in this chapter to the contrary shall restrict the planning or zoning power of any county under [HRS] chapter 46.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.