REPORT DOCUMENTATION FORM WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH CENTER University of Hawaii at Manoa Contract Agency 1 7NO. of o Piqures 1 Report Number Technical Report No. 120 3T itle The Enforcement of Consistency in Hawaiian Water Rights: An Introduction to Robinson v. Ariyoshi 8Author(s) 2PCST Category Date 5No. of Pages 6 No • of Tables VI-A June 1978 vii + 24 o Williamson B.C. Chang Office of Water Research and Technology, U.S. Dept. of Interior IIOGrant or Contract No. A-074-HI 1 1Keywords Descriptors: *Water law, *Water rights, *Federal jurisdiction, *State jurisdiction, Legal aspects, Judicial decisions, Litigation, Hawaii. Identifiers: McBrude v Robinson Robinson v. Ariuoshi 12Abstract (Purpose, method, results, conclusions) One of the most critical questions regarding the future of water regulation in Hawai'i is the validity of the Hawaii Supreme Court's decision in the landmark case of McBryde Sugar Co. v. Robinson. In that case, the state supreme court overturned the assumption that surface waters in Hawai'i could be privately owned. To the parties involved in the litigation, the decision came as a surprise and upset the basis for their claims to waters of the stream. As a result, the parties sought to have the results of the state supreme court decision nullified in federal court. Their efforts were successful, and in October 1977, the federal district court voided the state supreme court decision. This article challenges the validity of the federal court's decision. The question presented before the federal court was a novel and unique one. The article discusses three models for resolving the problem and dis- cusses an important distinction between the function of courts.in de- claring law and enforcing their judgments. 2540 Dole Street, Holmes Hall 283 • Honolulu, Hawaii· U.S.A.