Enrolled Bill Summary

House Bill 3338 amends the Water Code to require a retail public utility providing potable water to perform and file with the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) every five years a water audit computing its most recent annual system water loss. The bill requires the TWDB to develop appropriate methodologies and submission dates for categories of retail public utilities that are differentiated by the size of their service populations. The methodologies must account for various components of system loss, including loss from distribution lines, inaccuracies in meters or accounting practices, and theft. The TWDB must consider differences in population density, mean income, the source of water supply, and other factors, and must ensure that each methodology is financially feasible for that category of retail public utility. The bill requires the TWDB to compile the audit information by category and by regional planning area for use by regional planning groups in identifying water management strategies. The bill makes various forms of water-related financial assistance to a political subdivision contingent on the completion and filing of the audit.