Enrolled Bill Summary

House Bill 2250 adds Water Code provisions setting forth powers and duties of the Rio Grande watermaster in the part of the river downstream from the Fort Quitman dam. The provisions duplicate in part those applicable to watermasters generally, but they also direct the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) by rule to define situations that pose an imminent threat to public safety and to address the Rio Grande watermaster's duties in response to terrorism. The bill requires the watermaster to maintain a publicly available central repository of legal instruments that the TCEQ requires to be filed in connection with Rio Grande water rights and makes the effectiveness of certain liens contingent on the filing of a certified copy with the watermaster. It contains detailed provisions governing reservoir storage of groundwater in transit that is being conveyed under a TCEQ permit down the banks and bed of the Rio Grande.