By: Perry S.B. No. 2026
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to regulation of the production of retail public utility
wells by a groundwater conservation district.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 36.002(d), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) This section does not:
(1) prohibit a district from limiting or prohibiting
the drilling of a well by a landowner for failure or inability to
comply with minimum well spacing or tract size requirements adopted
by the district;
(2) affect the ability of a district to regulate
groundwater production as authorized under Section 36.113, 36.116,
36.1161, or 36.122 or otherwise under this chapter or a special law
governing a district; or
(3) require that a rule adopted by a district allocate
to each landowner a proportionate share of available groundwater
for production from the aquifer based on the number of acres owned
by the landowner.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 36.1161 to read as follows:
Sec. 36.1161. REGULATION OF PRODUCTION BY RETAIL PUBLIC
UTILITIES. (a) In this section, "retail public utility" has the
meaning assigned by Section 13.002.
(b) This section applies only to a district that regulates
production under Section 36.116 based on tract size or acreage.
(c) A retail public utility may petition a district to
authorize the retail public utility to produce groundwater based
on:
(1) the aggregate acreage owned or leased by the
retail public utility; and
(2) the acreage of the landowners served by the retail
public utility as provided by Subsection (d).
(d) A district may only base a retail public utility's
authorized production amount under this section in a manner
consistent with district rules and based on acreage of landowners
served by the retail public utility if:
(1) the utility has acquired from the landowner a real
property interest in the groundwater beneath the land; or
(2) the landowner has provided written permission for
the retail public utility to exercise the landowner's real property
interest in the groundwater beneath the landowner's land until the
landowner:
(A) drills a well and produces water from the
land; or
(B) transfers title to the land or real property
interest in the groundwater to another person.
(e) The district shall hold a public hearing to consider
approval of a petition submitted under this section. The district
shall require the retail public utility submitting the petition to
provide written notice of the hearing not later than the 60th day
before the date of the hearing to:
(1) the landowners served by the retail public
utility;
(2) persons with permitted or registered wells in the
district; and
(3) persons not described by Subdivision (1) or (2)
who have a property interest in groundwater under land that is
within one mile of the utility's wells in the district.
(f) The district shall consider a petition at a hearing
under this section in the same manner as a rulemaking hearing under
Section 36.101.
SECTION 3. Section 36.414(a), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a district shall
process applications from a single applicant under consolidated
notice and hearing procedures on written request by the applicant
if the district requires a separate permit or permit amendment
application for:
(1) drilling, equipping, operating, or completing a
well or substantially altering the size of a well or well pump under
Section 36.113;
(2) the spacing of water wells or the production of
groundwater under Section 36.116 or 36.1161; or
(3) transferring groundwater out of a district under
Section 36.122.
SECTION 4. Section 36.116(c), Water Code, is repealed.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.