Bill Text: TX HB807 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to the state and regional water planning process.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-06-10 - Effective immediately [HB807 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB807-Enrolled.html
H.B. No. 807 |
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relating to the state and regional water planning process. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. 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 2. Sections 16.053(e) and (i), Water Code, are | ||
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 most recent deadline for | ||
the board to adopt the 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; | ||
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(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) [ |
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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; [ |
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(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. | ||
(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, no more often than every other five-year planning cycle, | ||
and in accordance with guidance to be provided by the board, if the | ||
group determines that, based on its own initial analyses using | ||
updated groundwater and surface water availability information, | ||
there are no significant changes to the water availability, water | ||
supplies, or water demands in the regional water planning area. At | ||
a minimum, simplified planning will require updating groundwater | ||
and surface water availability values in the regional water plan, | ||
meeting any other 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). | ||
SECTION 3. 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, 2020. | ||
SECTION 4. 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, 2019. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I certify that H.B. No. 807 was passed by the House on April | ||
2, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 146, Nays 1, 1 present, not | ||
voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
I certify that H.B. No. 807 was passed by the Senate on May | ||
21, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
APPROVED: _____________________ | ||
Date | ||
_____________________ | ||
Governor |