85R31991 SLB-F
By: Perry S.B. No. 1511
(Price)
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1511: No.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the state and regional water planning process and the
funding of projects included in the state water plan.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 15.439(a), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The board shall adopt rules providing for the use of
money in the fund that are consistent with this subchapter,
including rules:
(1) establishing standards for determining whether
projects meet the criteria provided by Section 15.434(b); and
(2) specifying the manner for prioritizing projects
for purposes of Sections 15.436 and [Section] 15.437.
SECTION 2. Section 16.051(a-1), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a-1) The state water plan must include:
(1) an evaluation of the state's progress in meeting
future water needs, including an evaluation of the extent to which
water management strategies and projects implemented after the
adoption of the preceding state water plan have affected that
progress; [and]
(2) an analysis of the number of projects included in
the preceding state water plan that received financial assistance
from the board; and
(3) with respect to projects included in the preceding
state water plan that were given a high priority by the board for
purposes of providing financial assistance under Subchapter G,
Chapter 15:
(A) an assessment of the extent to which the
projects were implemented in the decade in which they were needed;
and
(B) an analysis of any impediments to the
implementation of any projects that were not implemented in the
decade in which they were needed.
SECTION 3. 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 4. Section 16.053(c), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) No later than 60 days after the designation of the
regions under Subsection (b), the board shall designate
representatives within each regional water planning area to serve
as the initial coordinating body for planning. The initial
coordinating body may then designate additional representatives to
serve on the regional water planning group. The initial
coordinating body shall designate additional representatives if
necessary to ensure adequate representation from the interests
comprising that region, including the public, counties,
municipalities, industries, agricultural interests, environmental
interests, small businesses, electric generating utilities, river
authorities, water districts, and water utilities. The regional
water planning group shall maintain adequate representation from
those interests. In addition, the groundwater conservation
districts located in each management area, as defined by Section
36.001, located in the regional water planning area shall appoint
one representative of a groundwater conservation district located
in the management area and in the regional water planning area to
serve on the regional water planning group. In addition,
representatives of the board, the Parks and Wildlife Department,
[and] the Department of Agriculture, and the State Soil and Water
Conservation Board shall serve as ex officio members of each
regional water planning group.
SECTION 5. 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 6. Sections 16.053(h)(1), (3), (6), and (10), Water
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(1) Prior to the preparation of the regional water
plan, the regional water planning group shall, after notice, hold
at least one public meeting at some central location readily
accessible to the public within the regional water planning area to
gather suggestions and recommendations from the public as to issues
that should be addressed in the plan or provisions that should be
considered for inclusion in the plan.
(3) After the regional water plan is initially
prepared, the regional water planning group shall, after notice,
hold at least one public hearing at some central location readily
accessible to the public within the regional water planning area.
The group shall make copies of the plan available for public
inspection at least one month before the hearing by providing a copy
of the plan in the county courthouse and at least one public library
of each county having land in the region. Notice for the hearing
shall include a listing of these and any other location where the
plan is available for review.
(6) If an interregional conflict exists, the board
shall facilitate coordination between the involved regions to
resolve the conflict. If conflict remains, the board shall resolve
the conflict. On resolution of the conflict, the involved regional
water planning groups shall prepare revisions to their respective
plans and hold, after notice, at least one public hearing at some
central location readily accessible to the public within their
respective regional water planning areas. The regional water
planning groups shall consider all public and board comments;
prepare, revise, and adopt their respective plans; and submit their
plans to the board for approval and inclusion in the state water
plan.
(10) The regional water planning group may amend the
regional water plan after the plan has been approved by the board.
If, after the regional water plan has been approved by the board,
the plan includes a water management strategy or project that
ceases to be feasible, the regional water planning group shall
amend the plan to exclude that water management strategy or project
and shall consider amending the plan to include a feasible water
management strategy or project in order to meet the need that was to
be addressed by the infeasible water management strategy or
project. For purposes of this subdivision, a water management
strategy or project is considered infeasible if the proposed
sponsor of the water management strategy or project has not taken an
affirmative vote or other action to make expenditures necessary to
construct or file applications for permits required in connection
with the implementation of the water management strategy or project
under federal or state law on a schedule that is consistent with the
completion of the implementation of the water management strategy
or project by the time the water management strategy or project is
projected by the regional water plan or the state water plan to be
needed. Subdivisions (1)-(9) apply to an amendment to the plan in
the same manner as those subdivisions apply to the plan.
SECTION 7. Sections 16.053(i), (p-1), and (p-2), Water
Code, are 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, except that a
regional water planning group may elect to implement simplified
planning, not more often than every other five-year planning cycle
and in accordance with guidance provided by the board, if the group,
based on an analysis by the group using updated information
relating to groundwater and surface water availability, determines
that no significant changes to water availability, water supplies,
or water demands in the regional water planning area have occurred
since the most recent regional water plan was adopted. At a
minimum, simplified planning requires updating information in the
regional water plan relating to groundwater and surface water
availability, meeting any new statutory or other planning
requirements that come into effect during each five-year planning
cycle, and formally adopting and submitting the regional water plan
for approval. Public participation for revised regional plans
shall follow the procedures under Subsection (h).
(p-1) If the development board determines that resolution
of the conflict requires a revision of an approved regional water
plan, the development board shall suspend the approval of that plan
and provide information to the regional water planning group. The
regional water planning group shall prepare any revisions to its
plan specified by the development board and shall hold, after
notice, at least one public hearing at some central location
readily accessible to the public within the regional water planning
area. The regional water planning group shall consider all public
and development board comments, prepare, revise, and adopt its
plan, and submit the revised plan to the development board for
approval and inclusion in the state water plan.
(p-2) If the development board determines that resolution
of the conflict requires a revision of the district's approved
groundwater conservation district management plan, the development
board shall provide information to the district. The groundwater
district shall prepare any revisions to its plan based on the
information provided by the development board and shall hold, after
notice, at least one public hearing at some central location
readily accessible to the public within the district. The
groundwater district shall consider all public and development
board comments, prepare, revise, and adopt its plan, and submit the
revised plan to the development board.
SECTION 8. 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 9. 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 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.