By: Price (Senate Sponsor - Miles) H.B. No. 2215
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 1, 2017;
May 4, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on
Agriculture, Water & Rural Affairs; May 16, 2017, reported
favorably by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 16, 2017,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the deadline for adoption of desired future conditions
in groundwater conservation districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 16.053(e), Water Code, as amended by
Chapters 756 (H.B. 2031), 990 (H.B. 30), and 1180 (S.B. 1101), Acts
of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is reenacted and
amended to read as follows:
(e) Each regional water planning group shall submit to the
development board a regional water plan that:
(1) is consistent with the guidance principles for the
state water plan adopted by the development board under Section
16.051(d);
(2) provides information based on data provided or
approved by the development board in a format consistent with the
guidelines provided by the development board under Subsection (d);
(2-a) is consistent with the desired future conditions
adopted under Section 36.108 for the relevant aquifers located in
the regional water planning area as of the most recent deadline for
[date] the board to adopt the [most recently adopted a] state water
plan under Section 16.051 or, at the option of the regional water
planning group, established subsequent to the adoption of the most
recent plan; provided, however, that if no groundwater conservation
district exists within the area of the regional water planning
group, the regional water planning group shall determine the supply
of groundwater for regional planning purposes; the Texas Water
Development Board shall review and approve, prior to inclusion in
the regional water plan, that the groundwater supply for the
regional planning group without a groundwater conservation
district in its area is physically compatible, using the board's
groundwater availability models, with the desired future
conditions adopted under Section 36.108 for the relevant aquifers
in the groundwater management area that are regulated by
groundwater conservation districts;
(3) identifies:
(A) each source of water supply in the regional
water planning area, including information supplied by the
executive administrator on the amount of modeled available
groundwater in accordance with the guidelines provided by the
development board under Subsections (d) and (f);
(B) factors specific to each source of water
supply to be considered in determining whether to initiate a
drought response;
(C) actions to be taken as part of the response;
and
(D) existing major water infrastructure
facilities that may be used for interconnections in the event of an
emergency shortage of water;
(4) has specific provisions for water management
strategies to be used during a drought of record;
(5) includes but is not limited to consideration of
the following:
(A) any existing water or drought planning
efforts addressing all or a portion of the region and potential
impacts on public health, safety, or welfare in this state;
(B) approved groundwater conservation district
management plans and other plans submitted under Section 16.054;
(C) all potentially feasible water management
strategies, including but not limited to improved conservation,
reuse, and management of existing water supplies, conjunctive use,
acquisition of available existing water supplies, and development
of new water supplies;
(D) protection of existing water rights in the
region;
(E) opportunities for and the benefits of
developing regional water supply facilities or providing regional
management of water supply facilities;
(F) appropriate provision for environmental
water needs and for the effect of upstream development on the bays,
estuaries, and arms of the Gulf of Mexico and the effect of plans on
navigation;
(G) provisions in Section 11.085(k)(1) if
interbasin transfers are contemplated;
(H) voluntary transfer of water within the region
using, but not limited to, regional water banks, sales, leases,
options, subordination agreements, and financing agreements;
(I) emergency transfer of water under Section
11.139, including information on the part of each permit, certified
filing, or certificate of adjudication for nonmunicipal use in the
region that may be transferred without causing unreasonable damage
to the property of the nonmunicipal water rights holder; and
(J) opportunities for and the benefits of
developing large-scale desalination facilities for:
(i) marine seawater that serve local or
regional entities; and
(ii) [(J) opportunities for and the
benefits of developing large-scale desalination facilities for]
seawater or brackish groundwater that serve local or regional
brackish groundwater production zones identified and designated
under Section 16.060(b)(5);
(6) identifies river and stream segments of unique
ecological value and sites of unique value for the construction of
reservoirs that the regional water planning group recommends for
protection under Section 16.051;
(7) assesses the impact of the plan on unique river and
stream segments identified in Subdivision (6) if the regional water
planning group or the legislature determines that a site of unique
ecological value exists;
(8) describes the impact of proposed water projects on
water quality; and
(9) includes information on:
(A) projected water use and conservation in the
regional water planning area; and
(B) the implementation of state and regional
water plan projects, including water conservation strategies,
necessary to meet the state's projected water demands.
SECTION 2. Sections 36.108(d), (d-2), (d-3), and (d-4),
Water Code, are amended to read as follows:
(d) Not later than May 1, 2021 [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 propose for adoption desired future
conditions for the relevant aquifers within the management area.
Before voting on the proposed desired future conditions of the
aquifers under Subsection (d-2), the districts shall consider:
(1) aquifer uses or conditions within the management
area, including conditions that differ substantially from one
geographic area to another;
(2) the water supply needs and water management
strategies included in the state water plan;
(3) hydrological conditions, including for each
aquifer in the management area the total estimated recoverable
storage as provided by the executive administrator, and the average
annual recharge, inflows, and discharge;
(4) other environmental impacts, including impacts on
spring flow and other interactions between groundwater and surface
water;
(5) the impact on subsidence;
(6) socioeconomic impacts reasonably expected to
occur;
(7) the impact on the interests and rights in private
property, including ownership and the rights of management area
landowners and their lessees and assigns in groundwater as
recognized under Section 36.002;
(8) the feasibility of achieving the desired future
condition; and
(9) any other information relevant to the specific
desired future conditions.
(d-2) The desired future conditions proposed under
Subsection (d) must provide a balance between the highest
practicable level of groundwater production and the conservation,
preservation, protection, recharging, and prevention of waste of
groundwater and control of subsidence in the management area. This
subsection does not prohibit the establishment of desired future
conditions that provide for the reasonable long-term management of
groundwater resources consistent with the management goals under
Section 36.1071(a). The desired future conditions proposed under
Subsection (d) must be approved by a two-thirds vote of all the
district representatives for distribution to the districts in the
management area. A period of not less than 90 days for public
comments begins on the day the proposed desired future conditions
are mailed to the districts. During the public comment period and
after posting notice as required by Section 36.063, each district
shall hold a public hearing on any proposed desired future
conditions relevant to that district. During the public comment
period, the district shall make available in its office a copy of
the proposed desired future conditions and any supporting
materials, such as the documentation of factors considered under
Subsection (d) and groundwater availability model run results.
After the close of the public comment period [hearing], the
district shall compile for consideration at the next joint planning
meeting a summary of relevant comments received, any suggested
revisions to the proposed desired future conditions, and the basis
for the revisions.
(d-3) After [the earlier of the date on which] all the
districts have submitted their district summaries [or the
expiration of the public comment period under Subsection (d-2)],
the district representatives shall reconvene to review the reports,
consider any district's suggested revisions to the proposed desired
future conditions, and finally adopt the desired future conditions
for the management area. The desired future conditions must be
approved by [adopted as] a resolution adopted by a two-thirds vote
of all the district representatives not later than January 5, 2022.
Subsequent desired future conditions must be proposed and finally
adopted by the district representatives before the end of each
successive five-year period after that date. The district
representatives shall produce a desired future conditions
explanatory report for the management area and submit to the
development board and each district in the management area proof
that notice was posted for the joint planning meeting, a copy of the
resolution, and a copy of the explanatory report. The report must:
(1) identify each desired future condition;
(2) provide the policy and technical justifications
for each desired future condition;
(3) include documentation that the factors under
Subsection (d) were considered by the districts and a discussion of
how the adopted desired future conditions impact each factor;
(4) list other desired future condition options
considered, if any, and the reasons why those options were not
adopted; and
(5) discuss reasons why recommendations made by
advisory committees and relevant public comments received by the
districts were or were not incorporated into the desired future
conditions.
(d-4) After [As soon as possible after] a district receives
notification from the Texas Water Development Board that the
desired future conditions resolution and explanatory report under
Subsection (d-3) are administratively complete, the district shall
adopt the applicable desired future conditions in the resolution
and report [that apply to the district].
SECTION 3. Section 36.108(d-5), Water Code, is repealed.
SECTION 4. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
over another Act of the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 5. 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, 2017.
* * * * *