Take action now to save good water bills from Governor Green’s veto list

We need your help defending two water protection bills that are inexplicably on the chopping block. These two bills help Hawaiʻi strengthen our collective future water security by giving the Water Commission the tools it needs to guide Hawaiʻi through a water emergency and protect our public trust water from being illegally monopolized by powerful corporations and institutions.

Vetoing these bills is not in the best interest of Hawaiʻi’s water resources or the countless lives that rely on them. The justifications behind the vetoes don’t quite add up. Governor Green needs to hear from Hawaiʻi’s water drinkers like you!

Please take a moment now to call and email the governor (script and contact info below), sign this petition, and encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Here’s a quick review of the bills on the chopping block: 

HB153 authorizes the Water Commission to impose fines against those who could otherwise over pump our aquifers and drain our streams dry. This bill increases the maximum penalty from $5,000 to $60,000 per day, an increase that aims to hold big money water users like corporations and the Department of Defense accountable if they violate the Water Code and impact the public’s water needs.

Governor Green says this bill cannot become law because boards of water supply would be immediately at risk for heightened fines. This is not a valid reason to veto this bill. As Red Hill and the Navy have shown, the biggest threats to our boards of water supply (other than the climate crisis) may be powerful institutions that are so wealthy that they can violate our water code with impunity. The Water Commission simply cannot hold luxury developments, megacorporations, or the US military financially accountable if and when they illegally overpump our aquifers or dewater our streams – depriving the rest of us, including our boards of water supply, of the water we need – with its current maximum fines equating to just a fraction of a penny per gallon. Moreover, nothing in this bill forces the Water Commission to target or prioritize the boards of water supply for enforcement, and it would make no sense for it to do so given the many egregious water code violations it has and will continue to encounter.

HB1088 authorizes the Water Commission to declare a water emergency without undergoing a time consuming rulemaking process simply to institute critical restrictions on non-essential water uses, like golf courses, in an effort to preserve fresh drinking water supplies for everyone. The Attorney General previously said this bill was absolutely necessary and it was this exact lack of authority that was given as a reason for the Water Commission not taking a stronger position in response to the Red Hill water crisis.   

But now, the Green Administration is walking that back. Green’s Administration created confusion and delay in the state’s response to the military’s contamination of our water and now his team is now changing its mind two weeks before the veto deadline.  

We know our water situation is going to get worse before it gets better and there’s no doubt that water shortages and emergencies are likely, requiring quick and timely action to prevent our water resources from being irreparably harmed. We cannot allow the Water Commission to stumble again – access to clean drinking water is too important.

You can find more information about these bills and talking points here.

Please call Governor Green’s office at (808) 586-0034 now, send him a message using this link, and sign this petition. The governor needs to hear from every single water drinker concerned about our collective drinking water future – please share this call to action with your friends and family and encourage them to contact the governor as well.

Sample message/script:

Aloha,

I am calling/writing to ask Governor Green to remove HB153 and HB1088 from the veto list. Please allow these two important water bills to become law. My name is: _____ and I live in ______. 

The first bill, HB153, allows the Water Commission to defend our public trust water resources – our precious wai – from waste and abuse by authorizing the Commission to issue fines for permit and IIFS violations. It is a basic bill that is essential to the Water Commission fulfilling its statutory and constitutional mandates to protect our water, and our children’s and grandchildren’s water, from big money water code violators and will not realistically inhibit municipal water departments or affordable housing developments.

The second bill is HB1088, which your administration originally said was a critical prerequisite to declaring a water emergency. Now your administration is saying it is not necessary, and that emergency authority already exists. This is both inaccurate and not in the best interest of our drinking water security. I am asking to allow this bill to become law to give the Water Commission the important tools and clear authority it needs to act quickly and defend our access to water and prioritize our most important needs during crises and emergencies.

Thank you.