1-1     By:  Ogden                                            S.B. No. 1178
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 10, 1999; March 11, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
 1-4     April 6, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 6, 1999,
 1-6     sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1178              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, construct, 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 services
1-24     in the watershed of the Brazos River unless the district obtains in
1-25     writing the consent of the Brazos River Authority before the
1-26     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.  Prior to its
 2-1     determination of the use of money from the agricultural water
 2-2     conservation fund, the district shall consult with an advisory
 2-3     committee representing agricultural irrigation interests that is
 2-4     appointed by the county judges of Matagorda, Wharton, and Colorado
 2-5     counties.  The board of directors' determination of the additional
 2-6     charge is not subject to review or modification by any regulatory
 2-7     agency or authority.  Water resources developed or conserved
 2-8     through the additional charge may be acquired from any source
 2-9     inside or outside the boundaries of the district and shall be used
2-10     to benefit the water service areas of the district's irrigation
2-11     operations.
2-12           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-13     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-14     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-15     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-16     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-17     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-18     passage, and it is so enacted.
2-19                                  * * * * *