Hawaii Water Law, In A Nutshell

by Robert Thomas, InverseCondemnation, January 6, 2016

If you want a crash course in Hawaii's unique (some would say weird) water law, you can't do better than this video from Think Tech Hawaii, an interview with an old water hand, lawyer William Tam.

While he definitely has a perspective (one that, in our view, downplays the role of private property and private rights), you can't get a better insider primer on the history of the legal battles over Hawaii water that have taken place over the years, and the current state of the law. 

One question we've always had about the public trust doctrine as applied to Hawaii water resources: if all water is publicly owned, why aren't people who use catchment systems to capture and store rainwater for their own use getting hit up for wrongly appropriating public water?

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