85R9091 SLB-F
By: Larson H.B. No. 3991
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to appropriations of water for use in aquifer storage and
recovery projects.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 11.153, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (d), (e), and (f) to
read as follows:
(c) The [This section does not preclude the] commission may
consider [from considering] an aquifer storage and recovery project
to be a component of a project permitted under this chapter that is
not required to be based on the continuous availability of
historic, normal stream flow.
(d) An aquifer storage and recovery project may involve the
use of water derived from multiple sources, including a new
appropriation of water. Except as provided by Subsection (e), a
water right or an amendment to a water right authorizing a new
appropriation of water for use in an aquifer storage and recovery
project:
(1) must include any special conditions the commission
considers necessary to implement this section;
(2) may be for water that is not continuously
available;
(3) may authorize the diversion and use of excess
flows in a watercourse or stream that would otherwise flow into the
Gulf of Mexico; and
(4) may not interfere with or negatively affect:
(A) existing water rights in the same river basin
as the diversion point for the new appropriation; or
(B) applicable environmental flow standards
adopted under Section 11.1471.
(e) Before approving an application for a water right or an
amendment to a water right for a new appropriation of water in the
Rio Grande basin for an aquifer storage and recovery project, the
commission shall consider the water accounting requirements for any
international water sharing treaty, minutes, and agreement
applicable to the Rio Grande basin and the effect of the project on
the allocation of water by the Rio Grande watermaster in the middle
and lower Rio Grande. The commission may not authorize a new
appropriation of water that would result in a violation of a treaty
or court decision.
(f) The commission may adopt rules providing an expedited
procedure for acting on an application for a water right or an
amendment to a water right under this section.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 11, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 11.156 to read as follows:
Sec. 11.156. AMENDMENT TO CONVERT USE FROM RESERVOIR
STORAGE TO AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY. (a) In this section,
"aquifer storage and recovery project" has the meaning assigned by
Section 27.151.
(b) A holder of a water right authorizing an appropriation
of water for storage in a storage reservoir that has not been
constructed may file an application for an amendment to the water
right to change the use or purpose for which the appropriation is to
be made to storage in an aquifer as part of an aquifer storage and
recovery project.
(c) An application for an amendment to a water right
described by Subsection (b) may request an increase in the amount of
water that may be diverted or the rate of diversion on the basis of
an evaporation credit that takes into account the amount of water
that would have evaporated if the storage reservoir had been
constructed.
(d) An application for an amendment to a water right
described by Subsection (b):
(1) is exempt from any notice and hearing requirements
of a statute, commission rule, or permit condition and may not be
referred to the State Office of Administrative Hearings for a
contested case hearing if the application does not request:
(A) an increase in the amount of water that may be
diverted or the rate of diversion; or
(B) a change in the diversion point; and
(2) is subject to the notice and hearing requirements
of this chapter if the application requests:
(A) an increase in the amount of water that may be
diverted or the rate of diversion, including an increase on the
basis of an evaporation credit; or
(B) a change in the diversion point.
(e) If the commission grants an application for an amendment
to a water right described by Subsection (d)(2), the commission
shall include in the amendment any special conditions the
commission considers necessary to:
(1) protect existing water rights; and
(2) comply with any applicable environmental flow
standards established under Section 11.1471.
(f) The commission may adopt rules providing an expedited
procedure for acting on an application for an amendment to a water
right described by Subsection (b).
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, 2017.