By Shields H.B. No. 1389
77R5527 SGA-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the classification of the use of water for the
1-3 irrigation of horticultural products for purposes of regulation by
1-4 the Edwards Aquifer Authority.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Sections 1.03(11)-(25), Chapter 626, Acts of the
1-7 73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, are amended to read as
1-8 follows:
1-9 (11) "Horticultural products" means nursery, floral,
1-10 and greenhouse plants or plant products produced from seeds,
1-11 rootings, cuttings, tissue cultures, seedlings, or other
1-12 propagation materials and grown in the soil or in containers by a
1-13 nursery grower as defined by Section 71.041, Agriculture Code.
1-14 (12) "Industrial use" means the use of water for or in
1-15 connection with commercial or industrial activities, including
1-16 manufacturing, bottling, brewing, food processing, scientific
1-17 research and technology, recycling, production of concrete,
1-18 asphalt, and cement, commercial uses of water for tourism,
1-19 entertainment, and hotel or motel lodging, generation of power
1-20 other than hydroelectric, and other business activities.
1-21 (13) [(12)] "Irrigation use" means the use of water
1-22 for the irrigation of pastures, [and] commercial crops, including
1-23 orchards, and horticultural products.
1-24 (14) [(13)] "Livestock" means animals, beasts, or
2-1 poultry collected or raised for pleasure, recreational use, or
2-2 commercial use.
2-3 (15) [(14)] "Municipal use" means the use of water
2-4 within or outside of a municipality and its environs whether
2-5 supplied by a person, privately owned utility, political
2-6 subdivision, or other entity, including the use of treated effluent
2-7 for certain purposes specified as follows. The term includes:
2-8 (A) the use of water for domestic use, the
2-9 watering of lawns and family gardens, fighting fires, sprinkling
2-10 streets, flushing sewers and drains, water parks and parkways, and
2-11 recreation, including public and private swimming pools;
2-12 (B) the use of water in industrial and
2-13 commercial enterprises supplied by a municipal distribution system
2-14 without special construction to meet its demands; and
2-15 (C) the application of treated effluent on land
2-16 under a permit issued under Chapter 26, Water Code, if:
2-17 (i) the primary purpose of the application
2-18 is the treatment or necessary disposal of the effluent;
2-19 (ii) the application site is a park,
2-20 parkway, golf course, or other landscaped area within the
2-21 authority's boundaries; or
2-22 (iii) the effluent applied to the site is
2-23 generated within an area for which the commission has adopted a
2-24 rule that prohibits the discharge of the effluent.
2-25 (16) [(15)] "Order" means any written directive
2-26 carrying out the powers and duties of the authority under this
2-27 article.
3-1 (17) [(16)] "Person" means an individual, corporation,
3-2 organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency,
3-3 business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any
3-4 other legal entity.
3-5 (18) [(17)] "Pollution" means the alteration of the
3-6 physical, thermal, chemical, or biological quality of any water in
3-7 the state, or the contamination of any water in the state, that
3-8 renders the water harmful, detrimental, or injurious to humans,
3-9 animal life, vegetation, property, or public health, safety, or
3-10 welfare or that impairs the usefulness of the public enjoyment of
3-11 the water for any lawful or reasonable purpose.
3-12 (19) [(18)] "Recharge" means increasing the supply of
3-13 water to the aquifer by naturally occurring channels or artificial
3-14 means.
3-15 (20) [(19)] "Reuse" means authorized use for one or
3-16 more beneficial purposes of use of water that remains unconsumed
3-17 after the water is used for the original purpose of use and before
3-18 the water is discharged or otherwise allowed to flow into a
3-19 watercourse, lake, or other body of state-owned water.
3-20 (21) [(20)] "Underground water" has the meaning
3-21 assigned by Section 52.001, Water Code.
3-22 (22) [(21)] "Waste" means:
3-23 (A) withdrawal of underground water from the
3-24 aquifer at a rate and in an amount that causes or threatens to
3-25 cause intrusion into the reservoir of water unsuitable for
3-26 agricultural, gardening, domestic, or stock raising purposes;
3-27 (B) the flowing or producing of wells from the
4-1 aquifer if the water produced is not used for a beneficial purpose;
4-2 (C) escape of underground water from the aquifer
4-3 to any other reservoir that does not contain underground water;
4-4 (D) pollution or harmful alteration of
4-5 underground water in the aquifer by salt water or other deleterious
4-6 matter admitted from another stratum or from the surface of the
4-7 ground;
4-8 (E) wilfully or negligently causing, suffering,
4-9 or permitting underground water from the aquifer to escape into any
4-10 river, creek, natural watercourse, depression, lake, reservoir,
4-11 drain, sewer, street, highway, road, or road ditch, or onto any
4-12 land other than that of the owner of the well unless such discharge
4-13 is authorized by permit, rule, or order issued by the commission
4-14 under Chapter 26, Water Code;
4-15 (F) underground water pumped from the aquifer
4-16 for irrigation that escapes as irrigation tailwater onto land other
4-17 than that of the owner of the well unless permission has been
4-18 granted by the occupant of the land receiving the discharge; or
4-19 (G) for water produced from an artesian well,
4-20 "waste" has the meaning assigned by Section 11.205, Water Code.
4-21 (23) [(22)] "Well" means a bored, drilled, or driven
4-22 shaft or an artificial opening in the ground made by digging,
4-23 jetting, or some other method where the depth of the shaft or
4-24 opening is greater than its largest surface dimension, but does not
4-25 include a surface pit, surface excavation, or natural depression.
4-26 (24) [(23)] "Well J-17" means state well number
4-27 AY-68-37-203 located in Bexar County.
5-1 (25) [(24)] "Well J-27" means state well number
5-2 YP-69-50-302 located in Uvalde County.
5-3 (26) [(25)] "Withdrawal" means an act or a failure to
5-4 act that results in taking water from the aquifer by or through
5-5 man-made facilities, including pumping, withdrawing, or diverting
5-6 underground water.
5-7 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.