2015S0380-1 03/03/15
By: Campbell S.B. No. 963
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of the Comal Trinity Groundwater
Conservation District; providing authority to issue bonds;
providing authority to impose assessments and fees.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle H, Title 6, Special District Local Laws
Code, is amended by adding Chapter 8875 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 8875. COMAL TRINITY GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 8875.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Board" means the board of directors of the
district.
(2) "Commissioners court" means the Comal County
Commissioners Court.
(3) "Director" means a member of the board.
(4) "District" means the Comal Trinity Groundwater
Conservation District.
(5) "Domestic use" means residential household use.
(6) "Exempt well" means:
(A) a well incapable of producing more than
10,000 gallons of groundwater a day;
(B) a metered well that produces not more than 10
acre-feet of groundwater in a calendar year; or
(C) a well that is drilled, completed, or
equipped so that it is incapable of producing more than 25,000
gallons of groundwater a day and produces water for domestic use or
for livestock or poultry, regardless of land lot size.
(7) "Existing well" means a well drilled into or
through the Trinity Aquifer on or before the effective date of the
Act enacting this chapter.
(8) "New well" means a well drilled into or through the
Trinity Aquifer after the effective date of the Act enacting this
chapter.
(9) "Trinity Aquifer" means the Trinity Group of
aquifers, including the Upper Trinity, consisting of the upper Glen
Rose Limestone; the Middle Trinity, consisting of the lower member
of the Glen Rose Limestone, the Hensell Sand, and the Cow Creek
Limestone; and the Lower Trinity, consisting of the Sligo Limestone
and Hosston Sand.
Sec. 8875.002. NATURE OF DISTRICT. The district is a
groundwater conservation district in Comal County created under and
essential to accomplish the purposes of Section 59, Article XVI,
Texas Constitution.
Sec. 8875.003. INITIAL DISTRICT TERRITORY. The initial
boundaries of the district are coextensive with the boundaries of
Comal County, excluding any territory that is included in the
boundaries of the Trinity Glen Rose Groundwater Conservation
District.
Sec. 8875.004. CONFLICTS OF LAW. This chapter prevails over
any provision of general law, including a provision of Chapter 36,
Water Code, that is in conflict or is inconsistent with this
chapter.
SUBCHAPTER B. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sec. 8875.051. APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTORS. (a) The district
is governed by a board of seven directors appointed by the
commissioners court as follows:
(1) three directors from the incorporated areas of
Comal County; and
(2) four directors, one from each of the four
commissioners court precincts.
(b) The commissioners court shall, to the degree possible,
consider directors familiar with the use of water by industry and
commerce, municipal and rural utilities, agriculture, and private
wells.
(c) A person appointed as a director must be a registered
voter of Comal County.
(d) A vacancy on the board shall be filled by the
commissioners court. A qualified person to fill a vacancy shall be
appointed to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.
(e) The commissioners court shall appoint the district's
initial directors not later than December 31, 2015.
Sec. 8875.052. ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING OF DIRECTORS.
(a) As soon as practicable after all the directors have qualified
under Section 36.055, Water Code, a majority of the directors shall
convene the organizational meeting of the district at a location
within the district agreeable to a majority of the directors. At
the meeting, the directors shall elect a chair, vice chair,
secretary, and treasurer from among the directors.
(b) The initial directors shall draw lots to determine which
two directors shall serve a four-year term, which two directors
shall serve a three-year term, which two directors shall serve a
two-year term, and which director shall serve a one-year term.
Subsequent directors shall serve staggered four-year terms.
Sec. 8875.053. RULES AND FEES. The board may adopt rules
and assess fees to manage and operate the district.
SUBCHAPTER C. POWERS AND DUTIES
Sec. 8875.101. DISTRICT POWERS AND DUTIES. The district
has the rights, powers, privileges, functions, and duties provided
by the general law of this state, including Chapter 36, Water Code,
applicable to groundwater conservation districts created under
Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution.
Sec. 8875.102. CONTRACTS. The district may contract with a
state agency or political subdivision, including, but not limited
to, a county, municipality, river authority, or another district,
to carry out any function of the district.
Sec. 8875.103. BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES. (a) The
district may participate in the development and implementation of
best management practices for water resource management in the
district and may engage in and promote the acceptance of best
management practices through education efforts sponsored by the
district.
(b) Development and implementation of best management
practices must address water quantity and quality practices such as
brush management, prescribed grazing, recharge structures, water
and silt detention and retention structures, plugging of abandoned
wells, rainwater harvesting, and other treatment measures for the
conservation of water resources.
(c) The district may not adopt or implement a best
management practice that is in conflict with, or duplicative of, a
best management practice adopted by another groundwater
conservation district whose territory covers any part of Comal
County.
Sec. 8875.104. LIMITATIONS ON DISTRICT POWERS. (a) The
district may not:
(1) require the owner of an exempt well to install a
meter or measuring device on the well;
(2) except as provided by Subdivision (3), and
notwithstanding Section 36.122, Water Code, allow the sale,
transport, or export of groundwater produced from a well inside the
district to a person or location outside the district;
(3) prohibit the sale, transport, or export of
groundwater produced from a well inside the district to a person
located inside the territory covered by the well owner's
certificate of public convenience and necessity if the owner of a
well with a certificate of public convenience and necessity obtains
a permit from the district; or
(4) assess and collect a production fee on an exempt
well.
(b) The district does not have the authority granted by
Sections 36.020 and 36.201-36.204, Water Code, relating to taxes.
Sec. 8875.105. PERMITS. Notwithstanding Section
36.117(j), Water Code:
(1) an existing nonexempt well shall have its annual
groundwater production permitted at the well's maximum production
capacity and shall not be required to obtain a production permit;
and
(2) a new nonexempt well shall obtain a permit from the
district.
Sec. 8875.106. MEASURING DEVICES. (a) The owner of an
existing or new well that is not an exempt well shall install and
maintain a water-well meter, or alternative measuring device or
method approved by the district, designed to indicate the flow rate
and cumulative amount of water withdrawn by that well, on each
individual well no later than 36 months after the effective date of
the Act enacting this chapter.
(b) A well owner is responsible for the costs of installing,
operating, and maintaining measuring devices.
Sec. 8875.107. NO EMINENT DOMAIN. The district may not
exercise the power of eminent domain.
SUBCHAPTER D. GENERAL FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 8875.151. FEES. (a) The district may set fees for
administrative acts of the district such as filing applications.
Fees set by the district may not unreasonably exceed the cost to the
district of performing the administrative function for which the
fee is charged. The district may set fees for administrative
management on domestic and livestock exempt wells with a cap of $15
per year per well and a cap of $50 per year per well on other exempt
wells.
(b) The district may impose reasonable production fees,
based on the amount of groundwater actually produced, on both new
and existing nonexempt wells. The district may not impose a
production fee in an amount greater than:
(1) $1 per acre-foot for groundwater used for
agricultural purposes; or
(2) $40 per acre-foot for groundwater used for any
other purpose.
(c) The district may use money collected from fees:
(1) in any manner necessary for the management and
operation of the district;
(2) to pay all or part of the principal of and interest
on district bonds or notes; and
(3) for any purpose consistent with the district's
approved water management plan.
SECTION 2. (a) The legal notice of the intention to
introduce this Act, setting forth the general substance of this
Act, has been published as provided by law, and the notice and a
copy of this Act have been furnished to all persons, agencies,
officials, or entities to which they are required to be furnished
under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and Chapter 313,
Government Code.
(b) The governor, one of the required recipients, has
submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
(c) The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed
its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor, the
lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
representatives within the required time.
(d) All requirements of the constitution and laws of this
state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect
to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act are fulfilled
and accomplished.
SECTION 3. 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, 2015.