2025S0120-1 02/20/25
By: Blanco S.B. No. 1583
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to management plans adopted by groundwater conservation
districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 36.1071, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (b-1), (b-2), and
(b-3) to read as follows:
(b) The management plan, or any amendments to the plan,
shall:
(1) be developed using the district's best available
data and forwarded to the regional water planning group for use in
their planning process; and
(2) include:
(A) the most recently approved desired future
conditions adopted under Section 36.108; and
(B) the amount of modeled available groundwater
corresponding to the most recently approved desired future
conditions.
(b-1) A district shall amend a management plan before the
second anniversary of the adoption of desired future conditions
included under Subsection (b).
(b-2) If a petition challenging the reasonableness of a
desired future condition is filed under Section 36.1083(b), the
executive administrator shall consider the management plan
administratively complete if the district includes:
(1) the most recently approved desired future
conditions adopted under Section 36.108;
(2) the amount of modeled available groundwater
corresponding to those desired future conditions;
(3) a statement of the status of the petition
challenging the reasonableness of a desired future condition; and
(4) the information required by Subsections (a) and
(e).
(b-3) Subsection (b-2) applies until either:
(1) the district issues a final order under Section
36.1083(n); or
(2) if a desired future condition is found to be
unreasonable in the final order, a new desired future condition is
adopted pursuant to Section 36.108 or 36.1083(p).
SECTION 2. Section 36.1072(b), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Within 60 days of receipt of a district's management
plan adopted under Section 36.1071, readopted under Subsection (e)
or (g) of this section, or amended under Section 36.1073, the
executive administrator shall approve the district's plan if the
plan is administratively complete. A management plan is
administratively complete when it contains the information
required to be submitted under Sections [Section] 36.1071(a) and
(e) or meets the requirements of Section 36.1071(b-2), if
applicable. The executive administrator may determine whether
conditions justify waiver of the requirements under Section
36.1071(e)(4).
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act applicable to
a petition filed under Section 36.1083, Water Code, apply only to a
petition filed under that section on or after the effective date of
this Act. A petition filed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the petition was filed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.