An effort to give the Commission on Water Resource Management more independence is still moving forward at the state Legislature, but with amendments.
Senate Bill 2002 would have provided some separation between the commission and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. It would have also allowed the body to retain legal counsel.
But on Thursday, the House Committee on Water and Land amended the bill to create a working group that would study CWRM's structure before making any changes.
"Without water, land has no value. We found out that you can't even do a golf course without water. This will probably affect thousands of people and billions of dollars if we mess this up. I don't feel comfortable changing CWRM with just one bill. I think we need a better plan, and it needs to be thought out thoroughly before we go changing the commission on water," said Brian Miyamoto, the Hawai'i Farm Bureau's executive director.
The measure was in part a response to the 2023 Maui wildfires, when CWRM's authority was undermined by the land department.
The commission is responsible for protecting groundwater through policy and decisions on water allocation.
