HLS 21RS-2641 ORIGINAL
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 88
BY REPRESENTATIVE MARCELLE
WATER/RESOURCES: Urges and requests the commissioner of conservation to adopt any
necessary rules and regulations to limit the withdrawal of groundwater by
commercial or industrial facilities to five million gallons of groundwater per day
1 A RESOLUTION
2To urge and request the commissioner of conservation to adopt any necessary rules and
3 regulations in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, by 2026, to limit
4 the withdrawal of groundwater by commercial or industrial facilities to five million
5 gallons of groundwater per day, and to monitor and enforce those rules.
6 WHEREAS, the people living in East Baton Rouge Parish are dependent on local
7groundwater resources from the Southern Hills Aquifer for safe drinking water; and
8 WHEREAS, major industries in East Baton Rouge Parish also use these groundwater
9resources for commercial purposes to secure jobs and economic growth for the region; and
10 WHEREAS, the main supplier of safe drinking water in East Baton Rouge Parish is
11the Baton Rouge Water Company, a privately-owned utility regulated by the Louisiana
12Public Service Commission; and
13 WHEREAS, as many as ninety thousand people in Ascension Parish also draw their
14safe drinking water from groundwater in East Baton Rouge Parish through the Baton Rouge
15Water Company's subsidiary, Ascension Water Company; and
16 WHEREAS, the United States Geological Survey (USGS), through numerous
17scientific studies and models, has identified serious water-level declines and saltwater
18intrusion in Baton Rouge aquifers; and
Page 1 of 3 HLS 21RS-2641 ORIGINAL
HR NO. 88
1 WHEREAS, the USGS has identified large groundwater withdrawals for public
2supply and industrial use in East Baton Rouge Parish as the cause of water-level declines and
3saltwater intrusion; and
4 WHEREAS, the USGS has stated that if groundwater withdrawals in Baton Rouge
5continue into the future at historic rates, saltwater intrusion will continue to occur; and
6 WHEREAS, the office of conservation has stated in a previous report to the
7legislature that without "publicly released plans for major groundwater pumpage reductions
8from the users in East Baton Rouge" groundwater use rates at the "present level or along a
9slightly upward trend seems a logical assumption, with all attendant consequences"; and
10 WHEREAS, the commissioner of conservation has the statutory authority to prevent
11or alleviate damaging saltwater movement or water-level decline and loss of sustainability
12in the state's aquifers and to determine areas of groundwater concern and designate critical
13areas of groundwater concern; and
14 WHEREAS, groundwater sustainability is defined in law as the development and use
15of groundwater in a manner that can be maintained for the present and future without
16causing unacceptable environmental, economic, social, or health consequences; and
17 WHEREAS, the office of conservation has stated in a previous report to the
18legislature that such "unacceptable effects on sustainability" already exist in East Baton
19Rouge Parish; and
20 WHEREAS, without limiting the industrial withdrawal of groundwater from the
21Southern Hills Aquifer, such "unacceptable effects on sustainability" and damaging saltwater
22movement and water-level decline will continue.
23 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
24Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the commissioner of conservation to
25adopt any necessary rules and regulations in accordance with the Administrative Procedure
26Act, by 2026, to limit the withdrawal of groundwater by any commercial or industrial facility
27to five million gallons of groundwater per day, and to monitor and enforce those rules.
28 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
29commissioner of conservation.
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HR NO. 88
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 88 Original 2021 Regular Session Marcelle
Urges and requests the commissioner of conservation to adopt any necessary rules and
regulations in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, by 2026, to limit the
withdrawal of groundwater by commercial or industrial facilities to five million gallons of
groundwater per day, and to monitor and enforce those rules.
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