The Senate Committee on Water and Land voted Thursday to pass SCR 54 / SR 36, a resolution requesting the Department of Land and Natural Resources to establish a desalination planning task force to assess whether desalination for large-scale potable use in Hawaiʻi is feasible. The committee approved the measure with technical and non‑substantive amendments.

The resolution calls for a working group to study municipal‑scale desalination for drinking water. The Office of the Board of Water Supply told the committee it is already planning a desalination facility for Oʻahu and encouraged the Legislature to consider the utility’s ongoing study before setting overlapping task‑force requirements.

“...we're planning and design. We don't expect to start the project on the construction phase until late 2027 or 2028, depending on any permit delays,” Cathy Mitchell of the Board of Water Supply said. “The facility that we're building is going to produce 1,700,000 gallons a day.”

Dawn Chang, speaking for the Department of Land and Natural Resources, said the department views the task force as a large undertaking and currently lacks staff capacity to meet every item listed in the resolution within the existing timeframes. “It would probably have us go beyond 2026,” she said, urging the committee to consider the Board of Water Supply’s study outcomes before duplicating effort.

Senator Alefontein, among committee members who took part in the discussion, asked whether the proposed working group would coordinate with counties on siting and identifying high‑need areas for potable desalination; members also raised concerns about energy costs and the different scales of projects on other islands.

The committee adopted the chair’s recommendation to pass the resolution with technical amendments. Members asked staff to note in the committee report that the timeline for any required reporting could be extended to account for planning and permitting timelines discussed during testimony.

The committee record does not adopt or authorize any specific construction or funding; it advances only the resolution authorizing a planning task force for further study.