81R5015 PMO-D
By: Corte H.B. No. 3494
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of desired future conditions of
groundwater resources and revision of those conditions by the Texas
Water Development Board.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 36.108(d) and (m), Water Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(d) Not later than September 1, 2010, [and every five years
thereafter,] the districts shall consider groundwater availability
models and other data or information for the management area and
shall establish desired future conditions for the relevant aquifers
within the management area. After January 1, 2012, and not later
than November 1, 2012, and every five years thereafter, the
districts shall as necessary revise the desired future conditions
using current groundwater availability models and other relevant
data or information. In establishing the desired future
conditions of the aquifers under this section, the districts shall
consider uses or conditions of an aquifer within the management
area that differ substantially from one geographic area to another.
The districts may establish different desired future conditions
for:
(1) each aquifer, subdivision of an aquifer, or
geologic strata located in whole or in part within the boundaries of
the management area; or
(2) each geographic area overlying an aquifer in whole
or in part or subdivision of an aquifer within the boundaries of the
management area.
(m) The development board shall review the petition and any
evidence relevant to the petition. The development board shall
hold at least one hearing at a central location in the management
area to take testimony on the petition. The development board may
delegate responsibility for a hearing to the executive
administrator or to a person designated by the executive
administrator. If the development board finds that the conditions
require revision, the development board shall revise [submit a
report to the districts that includes a list of findings and
recommended revisions to] the desired future conditions of the
groundwater resources. The development board's revision of the
desired future conditions is final and nonappealable. The
development board shall transmit the board's revision to the
districts not later than 30 days after completing the revision.
SECTION 2. Section 36.108(n), Water Code, is repealed.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a petition filed under Section 36.108(l), Water Code, on or after
September 1, 2009. A petition filed before September 1, 2009, is
governed by the law in effect on the date the petition was filed,
and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.