Water and the Law in Hawaii provides an intellectual and legal framework for understanding both the past and future of Hawai‘i’s freshwater resources. It covers not only the känäwai (laws) governing the balancing act between preservation and use, but also the science of aquifers and streams and the customs and traditions practiced by ancient and present-day Hawaiians on the äina (land) and in the wai (water). In placing Hawaii water law in the context of its historical development, the author condenses an enormous amount of information on traditional Hawaiian social structure and mythology. His analysis and explanation of the Hawaii Supreme Court decisions on water rights pose difficult questions and reveal the Court's at times defective reasoning by referring readers to original source material. He is the first author to explain fully how water use permits will play out in a variety of circumstances that may arise in the future, and he discusses the interrelationship between the State Water Code and the common law on water rights, which few people understand or are aware of. Water and the Law in Hawaii is a vital contribution to understanding water law in Hawaii. It will prove invaluable to students of the subject and will appeal to those with an interest in cultural anthropology, planning, Hawaiian history, and political science.

Hutchins, Wells A., Harold H. Ellis and J. Peter DeBraal. Water Rights Laws in the Nineteen Western States. [Washington, D.C.]: United States Department of Agriculture. [1971]. Three volumes. Reprint available July 2004 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 1-58477-414-2. Cloth. $350. * Rights to the use of water from surface and underground sources are often crucial in the seventeen contiguous Western states, Alaska and Hawaii. This work offers a comparative analysis of the development and status of the constitutional provisions, statutes, reported court decisions and administrative regulations, practices and policies regarding water rights laws in these states. The analysis considers the nature of these water rights and their acquisition, control, transfer, protection and loss. Federal, interstate and international matters are also discussed.

Report on defining the nature of private right to water use and how to regulate the development and allocation of Hawai'i's water resources.