85R14239 SMH-F
By: Larson H.B. No. 2948
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the state and regional water planning process.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 16, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 16.052 to read as follows:
Sec. 16.052. INTERREGIONAL PLANNING COUNCIL. (a) The
board, at an appropriate time in each five-year cycle for the
adoption of a new state water plan, shall appoint an interregional
planning council. The members of the council serve until a new
state water plan is adopted.
(b) The council consists of one member of each regional
water planning group. Each regional water planning group shall
nominate one or more members for appointment to the council, and the
board shall consider the nominations in making appointments to the
council.
(c) The purposes of the council are to:
(1) improve coordination among the regional water
planning groups, and between each regional water planning group and
the board, in meeting the goals of the state water planning process
and the water needs of the state as a whole;
(2) facilitate dialogue regarding water management
strategies that could affect multiple regional water planning
areas; and
(3) share best practices regarding operation of the
regional water planning process.
(d) The council shall:
(1) hold at least one public meeting; and
(2) prepare a report to the board on the council's
work.
SECTION 2. 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 date the board 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; and
(E) unnecessary or counterproductive variations
in specific drought response strategies, including outdoor
watering restrictions, among user groups in the regional water
planning area that may confuse the public or otherwise impede
drought response efforts;
(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;
(10) if the regional water planning area has
significant identified water needs, provides a specific assessment
of the potential for aquifer storage and recovery projects to meet
those needs;
(11) sets one or more specific goals for gallons of
water use per capita per day in each decade of the period covered by
the plan for the municipal water user groups in the regional water
planning area; and
(12) assesses the progress of the regional water
planning area in encouraging cooperation between water user groups
for the purpose of achieving economies of scale and otherwise
incentivizing strategies that benefit the entire region.
SECTION 3. Section 16.053(i), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(i) The regional water planning groups shall submit their
adopted regional water plans to the board by January 5, 2001, for
approval and inclusion in the state water plan. In conjunction with
the submission of regional water plans, each planning group should
make legislative recommendations, if any, to facilitate more
voluntary water transfers in the region or for any other changes
that the members of the planning group believe would improve the
water planning process. Subsequent regional water plans shall be
submitted at least every five years thereafter. Public
participation for revised regional plans shall follow the
procedures under Subsection (h).
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. The Texas Water Development Board shall appoint
the members of the initial interregional planning council under
Section 16.052, Water Code, as added by this Act, not later than
September 1, 2018.
SECTION 6. 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.