81R17211 SGA-D
By: Wentworth S.B. No. 2530
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a study of the availability and sustainability of
groundwater in the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District;
providing funds for the study.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Part 3, Article 3, Chapter 966, Acts of the 77th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, is amended by adding Section
3.03121 to read as follows:
Sec. 3.03121. STUDY OF GROUNDWATER AVAILABILITY AND
SUSTAINABILITY. (a) In this section "groundwater supplier" means a
water supply corporation or special district that:
(1) owns and operates a water well located in the Hays
Trinity Groundwater Conservation District that produces more than
25,000 gallons of groundwater a day; and
(2) uses groundwater from the well to provide water to
the supplier's customers.
(b) The district shall conduct a study to determine the
quantity of groundwater available for use in the district and the
sustainability of the groundwater supply.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 3.0312(c) of this part, to
finance the study under this section, the district may charge a
groundwater conservation and management fee of $2 to be collected
monthly by each groundwater supplier from each of the supplier's
customers as provided by Subsection (d) of this section.
(d) If the district imposes the groundwater conservation
and management fee, a groundwater supplier shall include the fee as
an itemized charge on each customer's monthly billing statement
beginning with the billing statement for January 2010.
(e) The groundwater supplier shall remit the fees collected
under Subsection (d) of this section to the district. Fees
collected by the district under this section may be used by the
district only to finance the study of groundwater availability and
sustainability and not for any other purpose.
(f) The district shall annually provide a report to the
Commissioners Court of Hays County showing the total amount of
groundwater conservation and management fees collected by the
district from each groundwater supplier and how the money was used.
(g) If the district collects more than $100,000 in fees
under this section in a year, the district shall return the excess
amount to the groundwater suppliers in proportion to the amount of
the fees collected from each supplier. Each groundwater supplier
shall rebate the returned fees to the supplier's customers.
(h) The district may not collect the groundwater
conservation and management fee for more than two years.
(i) This section expires April 1, 2012.
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.