By: Larson, Burnam H.B. No. 2577
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to water well recordkeeping and reporting requirements,
including the production, use, and withdrawal of groundwater.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 36.111, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 36.111. RECORDS AND REPORTS. (a) The district shall
[may] require that records be kept and reports be made of the
drilling, equipping, and completing of water wells and of the
production and use of groundwater.
(b) In implementing Subsection (a), a district may adopt
rules, consistent with rules adopted by the Texas Water Development
Board under Subsection (c), that require an owner or operator of a
water well that is required to be registered with or permitted by
the district[, except for the owner or operator of a well that is
exempt from permit requirements under Section 36.117(b)(1),] to
report groundwater withdrawals [using reasonable and appropriate
reporting methods and frequency].
(c) The Texas Water Development Board, after consulting
with representatives of districts regarding reasonable and
appropriate reporting methods and frequency of reporting, shall
adopt rules requiring the owner or operator of a well to report
groundwater withdrawals to the district in which the well is
located. In adopting rules under this subsection, the Texas Water
Development Board:
(1) must consider all methods of tracking groundwater
withdrawals, including metering and formulas;
(2) must provide for the exemption of a well that is
exempt from permit requirements under Section 36.117(b)(1);
(3) may not discriminate based on well type, but may
provide for the exemption of:
(A) domestic wells;
(B) livestock wells;
(C) wells that have a capacity of less than 100
gallons per minute; and
(D) wells that produce less than 10 acre feet
annually; and
(4) regarding wells that are not located in a
district, must require the owner or operator of the well to report
groundwater withdrawals to the Texas Water Development Board.
SECTION 2. The Texas Water Development Board shall adopt
the rules required by Subsection (c), Section 36.111, Water Code,
as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.