1-1     By:  Krusee (Senate Sponsor - Ogden)                  H.B. No. 1437
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 9, 1999;
 1-3     April 12, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Natural Resources; May 3, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable
 1-5     Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0;
 1-6     May 3, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1437              By:  Armbrister
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to the powers of the Lower Colorado River Authority to
1-11     provide water services in Williamson County.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Section 27, Chapter 7, Acts of the 43rd
1-14     Legislature, 4th Called Session, 1934 (Article 8280-107, Vernon's
1-15     Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-16           Sec. 27.  (a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this
1-17     Act, the district:
1-18                 (1)  may purchase, contract, acquire, own, operate,
1-19     repair, improve, or extend any facility necessary or convenient to
1-20     provide water services in Williamson County in cooperation with
1-21     another special district, a municipality, or another governmental
1-22     entity;[.]
1-23                 (2)   [(b)  The district] may not provide water
1-24     services in the watershed of the Brazos River unless the district
1-25     obtains in writing the consent of the Brazos River Authority before
1-26     the services are provided; and[.]
1-27                 (3)  [(c)  The district] may transfer surface water
1-28     from the district to a place in Williamson County that is outside
1-29     the watershed of the Colorado River only if the transfer is made
1-30     to:
1-31                       (A)  a municipality that was [is:]
1-32                 [(1)]  a district water customer on May 20, 1997, [the
1-33     effective date of this section;] and
1-34                 [(2)]  located in the watersheds of both the Colorado
1-35     River and the Brazos River; or
1-36                       (B)  a person or entity that pays for the surface
1-37     water in an amount sufficient to pay both the district's applicable
1-38     water rate and an additional charge to pay the costs of mitigating
1-39     any adverse effects of the transfer of surface water to Williamson
1-40     County from the Colorado River watershed, and provided such
1-41     transfer results in no net loss of water to the Colorado River
1-42     watershed as determined by the district's board of directors.
1-43     Notwithstanding the amounts of surface water transferred by the
1-44     district to municipalities in accordance with Paragraph (A) of this
1-45     subdivision, the volume of surface water authorized for transfer by
1-46     the district in accordance with this paragraph shall not exceed
1-47     25,000 acre-feet per annum, it being the intent of the legislature
1-48     that the district shall not be the sole provider of surface water
1-49     to Williamson County.
1-50           (b)  The district shall determine the amount of the
1-51     additional charge under Subsection (a)(3)(B) of this section.  The
1-52     additional charge may not be less than 10 percent of the district's
1-53     applicable rate for surface water to be transferred.  The district
1-54     shall deposit any money the district receives from the additional
1-55     charge, and may deposit any other money as the board of directors
1-56     determines, into a separate fund designated as the agricultural
1-57     water conservation fund.  The district may use money from the
1-58     agricultural water conservation fund only for the development of
1-59     water resources or other water use strategies to replace or offset
1-60     the amount of surface water to be transferred to Williamson County,
1-61     including the development and implementation of methods, programs,
1-62     and strategies relating to groundwater resources, reuse,
1-63     conservation, and other opportunities to reduce the reliance on
1-64     surface water for agricultural irrigation, provided that the
 2-1     methods, programs, and strategies take into consideration the
 2-2     surface water and groundwater needs of the affected Colorado River
 2-3     basin users.  Prior to its determination of the use of money from
 2-4     the agricultural water conservation fund, the district shall
 2-5     consult with an advisory committee representing agricultural
 2-6     irrigation interests that is appointed by the county judges of
 2-7     Matagorda, Wharton, and Colorado counties.  The board of directors'
 2-8     determination of the additional charge is not subject to review or
 2-9     modification by any regulatory agency or authority.  Water
2-10     resources developed or conserved through the additional charge may
2-11     be acquired from any source inside or outside the boundaries of the
2-12     district and shall be used to benefit the water service areas of
2-13     the district's irrigation operations.
2-14           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-15     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-16     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-17     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-18     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-19     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-20     passage, and it is so enacted.
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