84R9548 SGA-F
By: White of Bell H.B. No. 3540
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the groundwater rights of a landowner and the amount of
groundwater production for which a groundwater conservation
district may issue permits.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 36.1165 to read as follows:
Sec. 36.1165. LIMITS ON REGULATION OF PRODUCTION. (a) In
this section:
(1) "Landowner" means any person who is entitled to
the rights recognized under Section 36.002 and includes the
landowner's lessees, heirs, or assigns.
(2) "Reduced capacity well" means a well described by
Subsection (b).
(b) This section applies only to a well located in a
district and for which the landowner on whose land the well is
located has proof that:
(1) the well's maximum annual groundwater production
capacity has been reduced from a capacity recorded for that well
before September 1, 2015; and
(2) the reduction in the well's capacity is caused by a
reduced amount of available groundwater in the applicable aquifer
or subdivision of the aquifer used by the well as a result of the
aggregate withdrawals of groundwater from that aquifer or aquifer
subdivision by wells for which permits have been issued.
(c) For any area in a district that has one or more reduced
capacity wells, the district and any other districts that have
regulatory authority over production from the applicable aquifer or
aquifer subdivision shall:
(1) revise if necessary the most recently adopted
desired future conditions for that aquifer or aquifer subdivision;
and
(2) establish a common production rate per acre for
permitted wells drawing from that aquifer or aquifer subdivision
throughout the groundwater management area as necessary to prevent
further reduction in the production capability of the reduced
capacity well or wells.
(d) A district that has one or more reduced capacity wells
shall reduce the permitted amount of groundwater production from a
well in the district to an amount allowed by applying a common
production rate per acre as authorized by district rule to all
permitted wells that withdraw groundwater from the applicable
aquifer or aquifer subdivision.
(e) Notwithstanding the timetable for the adoption of
desired future conditions prescribed by Section 36.108(d), a
district that is required to revise the district's desired future
conditions under Subsection (c) may do so at any time, provided that
the district notifies the other districts in the applicable
groundwater management area of the need for the revision and calls
for a joint meeting of the groundwater management area districts to
consider the revision as provided by Section 36.108.
(f) If a district's desired future conditions for an aquifer
or aquifer subdivision are revised under this section, the
district:
(1) may revise as necessary:
(A) the district's management plan; and
(B) district rules;
(2) shall revise individual permits issued by the
district in accordance with this section;
(3) shall, if necessary, submit the district's revised
management plan to the executive administrator for approval as
required by Section 36.1073; and
(4) shall request that the executive administrator:
(A) conduct any surveys or studies necessary to
determine a revised modeled available groundwater for the
particular subdivision of the aquifer; and
(B) provide the modeled available groundwater to
the district or districts affected as required by Section 36.1084.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.