By Combs, Stiles H.B. No. 2276
74R6549 MI-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to interwatershed transfers of surface water.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 11.085(b), Water Code, is amended to read
1-5 as follows:
1-6 (b) No person may transfer water from one watershed to
1-7 another without first applying for and receiving a permit from the
1-8 commission to do so. Before issuing such a permit, the commission
1-9 shall hold a hearing to determine the rights that might be affected
1-10 by the transfer and must comply with the requirements of Sections
1-11 11.0851 and 11.0852. The commission shall give notice and hold the
1-12 hearing in the manner prescribed by its procedural rules.
1-13 SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 11, Water Code, is amended
1-14 by adding Sections 11.0851, 11.0852, and 11.0853 to read as
1-15 follows:
1-16 Sec. 11.0851. INTERWATERSHED TRANSFERS: REGIONAL WATER
1-17 MANAGEMENT PLAN REQUIRED. (a) The commission may not issue a
1-18 permit for an interwatershed transfer of surface water unless a
1-19 regional water management plan for the receiving basin has been
1-20 approved by the commission and incorporated as a condition of the
1-21 transfer permit.
1-22 (b) The commission shall adopt procedures for the
1-23 development of the regional water management plan that provide for
1-24 broad public participation from both the exporting and the
2-1 receiving basins. The procedures must require:
2-2 (1) notice of the proposed transfer to all persons in
2-3 both the exporting and receiving basins whose rights or interests
2-4 may be affected;
2-5 (2) a separate public hearing on the proposed transfer
2-6 in the exporting and in the receiving basin;
2-7 (3) approval of the plan by the two basins; and
2-8 (4) the submission of the plan to the commission and
2-9 review and approval of the plan by the commission.
2-10 (c) A regional water management plan must:
2-11 (1) demonstrate that before any transfer the receiving
2-12 basin has examined or implemented, and during any transfer will
2-13 reexamine or implement, all reasonable measures to develop or
2-14 extend local water supplies, including:
2-15 (A) measures to assure efficient management of
2-16 existing water supplies in order to provide optimum yield;
2-17 (B) aggressive water conservation and reuse
2-18 programs, including the use of greywater for the irrigation of
2-19 public areas and new residential areas;
2-20 (C) purchase and transfer of water within the
2-21 applicant's basin;
2-22 (D) stringent drought management procedures; and
2-23 (E) other similar measures prescribed by
2-24 commission rule;
2-25 (2) estimate future water demands and identify and
2-26 evaluate all practicable water supply options and conservation
2-27 measures to meet those demands; and
3-1 (3) provide mechanisms for protecting the water supply
3-2 of the exporting basin, which may include:
3-3 (A) a surcharge against the amount of water
3-4 exported to compensate the exporting basin for the costs of
3-5 dry-year alternative water supplies; or
3-6 (B) compensation to the exporting basin through
3-7 free use of part of the exported water resource.
3-8 (d) A regional water management plan approved and
3-9 incorporated as a condition of a permit is enforceable in the same
3-10 manner as other permit conditions and as provided by commission
3-11 rule adopted under Subsection (e).
3-12 (e) The commission by rule shall adopt procedures by which
3-13 an affected party may petition the commission for an emergency
3-14 order suspending or terminating an interwatershed transfer permit
3-15 if the receiving basin is violating the regional water management
3-16 plan or another condition of the permit.
3-17 Sec. 11.0852. INTERWATERSHED TRANSFERS: YIELD REQUIREMENTS.
3-18 A permit for an interwatershed transfer or a water supply contract
3-19 for an interwatershed transfer may not authorize a level of
3-20 firm-yield supply to the receiving basin that exceeds 70 percent of
3-21 the entire amount to be supplied under the permit or contract. A
3-22 permit for an interwatershed transfer or a water supply contract
3-23 for an interwatershed transfer must assure that not less than 30
3-24 percent of the entire amount to be supplied is subject to
3-25 interruption to protect the exporting basin's water requirements in
3-26 time of drought.
3-27 Sec. 11.0853. INTERWATERSHED TRANSFERS: RESTRICTED USE.
4-1 Water obtained through an interwatershed transfer may not be used
4-2 in the receiving basin for lawn irrigation, water amusement parks,
4-3 maintaining water levels for recreational or aesthetic purposes,
4-4 or other nonessential uses specified by commission rule.
4-5 SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 16, Water Code, is amended
4-6 by adding Section 16.0515 to read as follows:
4-7 Sec. 16.0515. SUPPLY AND DEMAND FORECASTS. (a) Before the
4-8 board may use a water supply or demand forecast to determine
4-9 whether a river basin is a surplus water basin for planning
4-10 purposes, the board must confer and reach agreement concerning the
4-11 forecast with the responsible river authority and a panel of users
4-12 of water from that basin.
4-13 (b) A water supply forecast and a water demand forecast to
4-14 be considered under this section must be prepared using the same
4-15 formula according to requirements adopted by the board.
4-16 SECTION 4. The change in law made by Sections 11.0851
4-17 through 11.0853, Water Code, as added by this Act, applies only to:
4-18 (1) a contract executed after the effective date of
4-19 this Act; or
4-20 (2) a permit the application for which is:
4-21 (A) pending before the Texas Natural Resource
4-22 Conservation Commission on the effective date of this Act; or
4-23 (B) submitted to the Texas Natural Resource
4-24 Conservation Commission on or after the effective date of this Act.
4-25 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
4-26 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
4-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.