1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the provision of water by the Lower Colorado River
1-3 Authority to a municipality outside the Colorado River basin.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 7, Acts of the 43rd Legislature, 4th
1-6 Called Session, 1934 (Article 8280-107, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-7 Statutes), is amended by adding Section 28 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 28. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or
1-9 other law:
1-10 (a) In this section:
1-11 (1) "Municipality" includes a municipally owned
1-12 utility.
1-13 (2) "Water service area" means the area in which the
1-14 district is authorized to use, distribute, and sell water on
1-15 January 1, 2001.
1-16 (b) Subject to the limitations and restrictions in this
1-17 section, the district may enter into a written contract with a
1-18 municipality located outside the water service area to distribute
1-19 and sell water to the municipality.
1-20 (c) In addition to the district's applicable water rate, the
1-21 district shall charge a municipality a surcharge determined by the
1-22 board of directors according to the terms of the contract to enable
1-23 the district to develop and manage water resources sufficient to
1-24 address the projected needs of the district's water service area
2-1 and the needs of the municipality to the extent agreed in the
2-2 contract. The contract must provide that the surcharge be
2-3 sufficient to allow the district to recover all capital
2-4 construction costs incurred by the district under this section. The
2-5 board of directors' determination of the surcharge is not subject
2-6 to review or modification by any regulatory agency or
2-7 administrative authority.
2-8 (d) The use or reservation of water under a contract
2-9 authorized by this section may extend for a base period of not more
2-10 than 50 years. A contract may provide an option to renew for not
2-11 more than an additional 30 years. An option to renew must require
2-12 that the municipality progressively reduce the amount of water
2-13 reserved or used by the municipality during the last 10 years of
2-14 the renewal term and require that the rate paid by the municipality
2-15 immediately increase by a factor of five if the municipality does
2-16 not make the required reduction. A contract must provide that the
2-17 municipality is not entitled to further reservation, use, or
2-18 delivery of water from the district at the conclusion of the
2-19 contract.
2-20 (e) A contract authorized by this section must require that
2-21 the then current rate paid by the municipality immediately increase
2-22 by a factor of five if:
2-23 (1) the municipality initiates legal proceedings in a
2-24 court or regulatory agency to obtain:
2-25 (A) an increase in the amount of surface water
2-26 taken by the municipality under this section; or
2-27 (B) an extension of either the base or renewal
3-1 periods under Subsection (d); or
3-2 (2) the district is compelled by any authority to
3-3 reserve, sell, or make available to the municipality more than
3-4 150,000 acre-feet of water per year or to reserve, sell, or make
3-5 available to the municipality water beyond the base and renewal
3-6 periods under Subsection (d).
3-7 (f) The contract must provide that within the water service
3-8 area, the district must own any personal property, fixtures, or
3-9 appurtenances that are used for making available, diverting, or
3-10 delivering water to a municipality under a contract authorized by
3-11 this section.
3-12 (g) Water to be provided under a contract authorized by this
3-13 section may not be diverted from the Colorado River at diversion
3-14 points located on the reservoirs that, on the effective date of
3-15 this section, are owned and operated by the district upstream of
3-16 Mansfield Dam. Water to be provided under a contract authorized by
3-17 this section may be diverted only from off-channel reservoirs built
3-18 downstream of Mansfield Dam after the effective date of this
3-19 section.
3-20 (h) The district may not provide water to a municipality
3-21 under a contract authorized by this section unless the district
3-22 demonstrates, through its water management plan, to the Texas
3-23 Natural Resource Conservation Commission that the district will
3-24 operate its water supply system in conjunction with the water
3-25 resources management efforts contemplated by the contract to:
3-26 (1) increase the average lake levels of Lake Buchanan
3-27 and Lake Travis by at least 6 feet and 18 feet, respectively, above
4-1 the average lake levels of such lakes during times when such lakes
4-2 would have been operating at less than 90 percent of conservation
4-3 capacity without such efforts; and
4-4 (2) increase the average lake levels of Lake Buchanan
4-5 and Lake Travis during a repeat of the drought of record at least
4-6 10 feet and 20 feet, respectively, above the average lake levels of
4-7 such lakes during a repeat of the drought of record without such
4-8 efforts.
4-9 (i) As a requirement of the district's water management
4-10 plan, the district shall submit annually to the Texas Natural
4-11 Resource Conservation Commission data and a report demonstrating
4-12 that the district has operated its water supply system in
4-13 accordance with the provisions of this section. Such data shall
4-14 include a tabulation that compares actual recorded lake levels with
4-15 lake levels that would have occurred without the water resources
4-16 management efforts contemplated by a contract authorized by this
4-17 section. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission shall
4-18 review the data and report submitted by the district and shall
4-19 certify, in writing made available to the public, whether the
4-20 district has complied with the provisions of this section.
4-21 (j) The district may sell no more than a total of 150,000
4-22 acre-feet of water in any year under contracts authorized by this
4-23 section.
4-24 (k) This section does not authorize:
4-25 (1) the district to pump water to the municipality
4-26 directly from the Colorado River;
4-27 (2) the district to sell its surface water rights to
5-1 any person or entity for use outside the water service area; or
5-2 (3) a sale or lease of water other than as
5-3 specifically authorized by this section.
5-4 (l) The district may not sell groundwater to a municipality
5-5 under this section.
5-6 (m) The district may not contract to distribute or sell
5-7 water under this section unless the district's board of directors
5-8 finds, after providing an opportunity for public input, that the
5-9 contract:
5-10 (1) will protect and benefit the lower Colorado River
5-11 watershed and the district's water service area, including
5-12 municipal, industrial, agricultural, recreational, and
5-13 environmental interests;
5-14 (2) is consistent with regional water plans filed with
5-15 the Texas Water Development Board on or before January 5, 2001;
5-16 (3) will ensure that the beneficial inflows remaining
5-17 after any water diversions will be adequate to maintain the
5-18 ecological health and productivity of the Matagorda Bay system;
5-19 (4) will provide for instream flows no less protective
5-20 than those included in the district's Water Management Plan for the
5-21 Lower Colorado River Basin, as approved by the Texas Natural
5-22 Resource Conservation Commission;
5-23 (5) will ensure that, before any water is delivered
5-24 under the contract, the municipality has prepared a drought
5-25 contingency plan and has developed and implemented a water
5-26 conservation plan that will result in the highest practicable
5-27 levels of water conservation and efficiency achievable within the
6-1 jurisdiction of the municipality;
6-2 (6) provides for a broad public and scientific review
6-3 process designed to ensure that all information that can be
6-4 practicably developed is considered in establishing beneficial
6-5 inflow and instream flow provisions; and
6-6 (7) will benefit stored water levels in the district's
6-7 existing reservoirs.
6-8 (n) A municipality that buys water from the district under a
6-9 contract authorized by this section may not resell that water
6-10 outside the boundaries of the regional water planning area in which
6-11 the municipality is located, as such boundaries are designated by
6-12 the Texas Water Development Board as of January 5, 2001.
6-13 (o) Nothing in this section shall exempt the district or any
6-14 municipality from the permitting requirements of state and federal
6-15 law.
6-16 SECTION 2. This Act constitutes full authority for a
6-17 municipality or municipally owned utility to enter into a contract
6-18 with the district under Section 28, Chapter 7, Acts of the 43rd
6-19 Legislature, 4th Called Session, 1934 (Article 8280-107, Vernon's
6-20 Texas Civil Statutes), as added by this Act. The payments made
6-21 under a contract authorized by that section are operation and
6-22 maintenance expenses of the municipality's utility system. A
6-23 municipality or municipally owned utility that enters into a
6-24 contract under that section may use proceeds from the sale of its
6-25 revenue bonds to make any such payments.
6-26 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
6-27 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
7-1 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
7-2 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
7-3 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1629 was passed by the House on March
15, 2001, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1629 on May 3, 2001, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0,
1 present, not voting.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1629 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on April 30, 2001, by the following vote: Yeas 29,
Nays 0, 1 present, not voting.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________________
Date
__________________________
Governor