By: King of Uvalde (Senate Sponsor - Campbell) H.B. No. 1806
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 30, 2019;
May 1, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on Water &
Rural Affairs; May 20, 2019, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 20, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the use of water withdrawn from the Edwards Aquifer by
certain entities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1.34, Chapter 626, Acts of the 73rd
Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is amended by amending
Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), and (a-3) to
read as follows:
(a) In this section, "retail public utility" has the meaning
assigned by Chapter 13, Water Code.
(a-1) Except as provided by this section, water [Water]
withdrawn from the aquifer must be used within the boundaries of the
authority.
(a-2) A retail public utility that is an initial regular
permit holder and the service area of which is contained wholly or
partly inside the boundaries of the authority may use water
withdrawn from the aquifer to provide retail water service in a
county adjacent to the boundaries of the authority within the
utility's certificated service area.
(a-3) A municipally owned utility owned by the City of San
Antonio may sell not more than 6,000 acre feet of water withdrawn
from the aquifer per year at wholesale to a retail public utility or
river authority for use in any county adjacent to Bexar County. The
municipally owned utility owned by the City of San Antonio must
obtain the consent of the Kendall County Commissioners Court for a
sale of water under this subsection if:
(1) the water is sold for use in Kendall County; and
(2) the sale would cause the total sales of water under
this subsection for use in Kendall County to exceed 1,500 acre feet
of water per year.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
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