81R7836 PMO-D
By: Ritter H.B. No. 2666
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of the Lower Neches Valley Authority to
acquire, own, operate, maintain, and improve the Devers Canal
System, its water rights, and associated property.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 63, Acts of the 43rd Legislature, 1st
Called Session, 1933, is amended by adding Section 13C to read as
follows:
Sec. 13C. (a) In this section:
(1) "Canal system" means the canal system and
associated properties generally known as the Devers Canal System.
(2) "Commission" means the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
(b) The district may:
(1) acquire, own, operate, maintain, and improve the
canal system; and
(2) enlarge and extend the canal system in Chambers,
Liberty, and Jefferson Counties.
(c) The district may own the water rights and appropriate
and divert water of this state under the permits and contracts
previously owned by and acquired from the Devers Canal Company, the
Trinity River Authority on behalf of the Devers Canal System, and
the Devers Canal Rice Producers Association, Inc.
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e) of this section,
the district may distribute, sell, and use water of this state for
any purpose approved by the commission.
(e) The district may not sell water for irrigation use in
Chambers County to customers served by the Chambers-Liberty
Counties Navigation District under a certified filing, permit, or
certificate of adjudication held by the navigation district and
issued by the commission without the approval of the navigation
district.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.