By:  Ogden                                            S.B. No. 1178
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                       AN ACT
 1-1     relating to the powers of the Lower Colorado River Authority to
 1-2     provide water services in Williamson County.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 27, Chapter 7, Acts of the 43rd
 1-5     Legislature, 4th Called Session, 1934 (Article 8280-107, Vernon's
 1-6     Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 27.  (a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this
 1-8     Act, the district:
 1-9                 (1)  may purchase, construct, acquire, own, operate,
1-10     repair, improve, or extend any facility necessary or convenient to
1-11     provide water services in Williamson County in cooperation with
1-12     another special district, a municipality, or another governmental
1-13     entity;[.]
1-14                 (2)  [(b)  The district] may not provide water services
1-15     in the watershed of the Brazos River unless the district obtains in
1-16     writing the consent of the Brazos River Authority before the
1-17     services are provided; and[.]
1-18                 (3)  [(c)  The district] may transfer surface water
1-19     from the district to a place in Williamson County that is outside
1-20     the watershed of the Colorado River only if the transfer is made
1-21     to:
1-22                       (A)  a municipality that was [is:]
1-23                 [(1)]  a district water customer on May 20, 1997, [the
1-24     effective date of this section;] and
 2-1                 [(2)]  located in the watersheds of both the Colorado
 2-2     River and the Brazos River; or
 2-3                       (B)  a person or entity that pays for the surface
 2-4     water in an amount sufficient to pay both the district's applicable
 2-5     water rate and an additional charge to pay the costs of mitigating
 2-6     any adverse effects of the transfer of surface water to Williamson
 2-7     County from the Colorado River watershed, and provided such
 2-8     transfer results in no net loss of water to the Colorado River
 2-9     watershed as determined by the district's board of directors.
2-10     Notwithstanding the amounts of surface water transferred by the
2-11     district to municipalities in accordance with Paragraph (A) of this
2-12     subdivision, the volume of surface water authorized for transfer by
2-13     the district in accordance with this paragraph shall not exceed
2-14     25,000 acre-feet per annum, it being the intent of the legislature
2-15     that the district shall not be the sole provider of surface water
2-16     to Williamson County.
2-17           (b)  The district shall determine the amount of the
2-18     additional charge under Subsection (a)(3)(B) of this section.  The
2-19     additional charge may not be less than 10 percent of the district's
2-20     applicable rate for surface water to be transferred.  The district
2-21     shall deposit any money the district receives from the additional
2-22     charge, and may deposit any other money as the board of directors
2-23     determines, into a separate fund designated as the agricultural
2-24     water conservation fund.  The district may use money from the
2-25     agricultural water conservation fund only for the development of
2-26     water resources or other water use strategies to replace or offset
 3-1     the amount of surface water to be transferred to Williamson County,
 3-2     including the development and implementation of methods, programs,
 3-3     and strategies relating to groundwater resources, reuse,
 3-4     conservation, and other opportunities to reduce the reliance on
 3-5     surface water for agricultural irrigation.  Prior to its
 3-6     determination of the use of money from the agricultural water
 3-7     conservation fund, the district shall consult with an advisory
 3-8     committee representing agricultural irrigation interests that is
 3-9     appointed by the county judges of Matagorda, Wharton, and Colorado
3-10     counties.  The board of directors' determination of the additional
3-11     charge is not subject to review or modification by any regulatory
3-12     agency or authority.  Water resources developed or conserved
3-13     through the additional charge may be acquired from any source
3-14     inside or outside the boundaries of the district and shall be used
3-15     to benefit the water service areas of the district's irrigation
3-16     operations.
3-17           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
3-18     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-19     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-20     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-21     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-22     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-23     passage, and it is so enacted.