By Chisum H.B. No. 3024
77R11855 MI-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the powers of the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation
1-3 District.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 2 and 3, Chapter 19, Acts of the 55th
1-6 Legislature, Regular Session, 1957 (Article 8280-191, Vernon's
1-7 Texas Civil Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 2. Panhandle Groundwater [Ground Water] Conservation
1-9 District [Number Three, South of the Canadian River], hereinafter
1-10 sometimes referred to as the District, shall have and exercise and
1-11 is hereby vested with all of the rights, powers, privileges and
1-12 duties conferred and imposed by the general laws of this State now
1-13 enforced or hereafter enacted applicable to underground water
1-14 conservation districts created under authority of Article 16,
1-15 Section 59 of the Constitution of Texas, and Chapters 35 and 36,
1-16 Water Code [Chapter 3A of Title 128, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes
1-17 together with all amendments and additions thereto, including
1-18 particularly Article 7880-3c, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes
1-19 (Chapter 306, Page 559, Acts of the Fifty-first Legislature of
1-20 Texas, 1949) for the purpose of]:
1-21 (1) To formulate, promulgate and enforce rules and
1-22 regulations for the purpose of conserving, preserving, protecting
1-23 and recharging the underground water of the underground water
1-24 reservoir or subdivision thereof;
2-1 (2) To formulate, promulgate and enforce rules and
2-2 regulations to prevent the waste, as defined by Section 36.001,
2-3 Water Code [in Section 3c, Article 7880, Revised Civil Statutes of
2-4 Texas as now, or hereafter amended], of the underground water of
2-5 the underground water reservoir or subdivision thereof;
2-6 (3) To require permits for the drilling, equipping and
2-7 completion of wells in the underground water reservoir and to issue
2-8 such permits subject to such terms and provisions with reference to
2-9 the drilling, equipping and completion thereof as may be necessary
2-10 to prevent waste;
2-11 (4) To provide for the spacing of wells producing from
2-12 the underground water reservoir or subdivision thereof and to
2-13 regulate the production therefrom so as to minimize as far as
2-14 practicable the drawdown of the water table or the reduction of the
2-15 artesian pressure; provided, however, the owner of the land, his
2-16 heirs, assigns and lessees, shall not be denied a permit to drill a
2-17 well on his land and produce underground water therefrom subject to
2-18 rules and regulations promulgated hereunder to prevent waste;
2-19 (5) To require records to be kept and reports to be
2-20 made of the drilling, equipping, and completion of wells into the
2-21 underground water reservoir or subdivision thereof and the taking
2-22 and use of underground water therefrom; to require accurate
2-23 driller's logs which may be made of such wells to be filed with the
2-24 district and the appropriate state agency [State Board of Water
2-25 Engineers];
2-26 (6) To acquire lands for the erection of dams and for
2-27 the purpose of draining lakes, draws, and depressions, and to
3-1 construct dams, drain lakes, depressions, draws, and creeks and to
3-2 install pumps and other equipment necessary to recharge the
3-3 underground water reservoir or subdivision thereof[, but such
3-4 district shall not engage in the sale or distribution of surface or
3-5 underground water for any purpose];
3-6 (7) To cause to be made by registered professional
3-7 engineers surveys of the underground water of the underground water
3-8 reservoir or subdivision thereof and of the facilities for the
3-9 development, production and use of such underground water, to
3-10 determine the quantity thereof available for production and use and
3-11 the improvements, developments, and recharges needed for such
3-12 underground water reservoir or subdivision thereof;
3-13 (8) To develop comprehensive plans for the most
3-14 efficient use of the underground water of the underground water
3-15 reservoir or subdivision thereof and for the control and prevention
3-16 of waste of such underground water, which plans shall specify in
3-17 such detail as may be practicable the acts, procedure, performance
3-18 and avoidance which are or may be necessary to effect such plans,
3-19 including specifications therefor; to carry out research projects,
3-20 develop information and determine limitations, if any, which should
3-21 be made on the withdrawal of underground water from the underground
3-22 water reservoir or subdivision thereof; to collect and preserve
3-23 information regarding the use of such underground water and the
3-24 practicability of recharge of the underground water subdivision
3-25 thereof; to publish such plans and information, bring them to the
3-26 notice and attention of the users of such underground water within
3-27 the district, and to encourage their adoption and execution;
4-1 (9) To enforce, by injunction, mandatory injunction or
4-2 other appropriate remedy, in courts of competent jurisdiction,
4-3 rules and regulations duly adopted and promulgated by such
4-4 district; provided, that no rule or regulation shall be effective
4-5 until a brief resume thereof has been published once a week for two
4-6 (2) consecutive weeks in one or more newspapers to give circulation
4-7 within the district, and such rule or regulation is to be effective
4-8 not less than fourteen (14) days after the date of the first
4-9 publication;
4-10 (10) To incur all such indebtedness as may be
4-11 necessary and requisite to the achievement of the purposes for
4-12 which the district is created; to issue negotiable bonds for the
4-13 purposes set forth in Section 2(6) of this Act and levy and collect
4-14 such ad valorem taxes as may be necessary for the payment of the
4-15 interest and the creation of a sinking fund for the payment of such
4-16 bonds, the issuance of such bonds and the levy and collection of
4-17 taxes to be in accordance with Chapters 35 and 36, Water Code [the
4-18 provisions of Chapter 25, Acts, Thirty-ninth Legislature, Regular
4-19 Session, 1925 (Chapter 3A, Title 128, Vernon's Texas Civil
4-20 Statutes), as now or hereafter amended]; to levy and collect the ad
4-21 valorem tax authorized at the election held January 21, 1956, for
4-22 the maintenance of such district, its installations and activities;
4-23 to hereafter order elections for the purpose of authorizing the
4-24 levy and collection of taxes for the maintenance of the district,
4-25 its installations and activities, such elections to be ordered and
4-26 held as is provided for elections authorizing the issuance of
4-27 bonds; provided that in all bond elections and tax elections all
5-1 persons may vote who are resident, qualified property taxpaying
5-2 voters of such district whose property has been duly rendered for
5-3 taxation as provided in Section 3a, Article VI, Constitution of
5-4 Texas; provided further that the aggregate amount of taxes for all
5-5 purposes may never in any one (1) year exceed Fifty Cents (50 ) on
5-6 the One Hundred Dollars ($100) assessed valuation on property in
5-7 the district subject to taxation; and provided, further, that the
5-8 district may have its taxes assessed and collected [by the
5-9 respective county tax assessors and collectors] as provided by
5-10 Sections 6.24 and 6.27, Tax Code [in Chapter 218, Page 348, Acts,
5-11 Fifty-second Legislature, Regular Session, 1951].
5-12 Sec. 3. Except as herein otherwise provided, said district
5-13 shall be governed by Chapters 35 and 36, Water Code [the provisions
5-14 of Chapter 25, Acts of the Thirty-ninth Legislature of Texas,
5-15 Regular Session, 1925, as now or hereafter amended (Chapter 3A,
5-16 Title 128, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes, as now or hereafter
5-17 amended, and particularly Section 3c of said Chapter 3A)].
5-18 SECTION 2. Chapter 19, Acts of the 55th Legislature, Regular
5-19 Session, 1957 (Article 8280-191, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
5-20 amended by adding Section 2A to read as follows:
5-21 Sec. 2A. (a) The district may impose a reasonable fee on
5-22 water transported out of the district, not to exceed:
5-23 (1) the amount negotiated between the district and the
5-24 transporter of the water; or
5-25 (2) an amount equal to:
5-26 (A) the district's maximum tax rate per $100 of
5-27 valuation for each 1,000 gallons of water transported out of the
6-1 district; or
6-2 (B) $0.025 per thousand gallons of water if the
6-3 district assesses a tax rate of less than $0.025 per hundred
6-4 dollars of valuation.
6-5 (b) A conservation and reclamation district created under
6-6 Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, that provides water to
6-7 five or more municipalities outside the district and holds a permit
6-8 granted before March 1, 2001, is not required to pay a fee under
6-9 Subsection (a) but shall pay the district an amount equal to 60
6-10 percent of the district's annually set tax rate per $100 valuation
6-11 for each 1,000 gallons of water the conservation and reclamation
6-12 district delivers to a municipality located entirely outside the
6-13 district beginning on the effective date of the law enacting this
6-14 section. This subsection applies to all deliveries made to a
6-15 municipality that is a member of the conservation and reclamation
6-16 district on the effective date of the law enacting this section,
6-17 regardless of whether the delivery is covered by a permit in effect
6-18 at that time. This subsection does not apply to a municipality
6-19 that is not a member of the conservation and reclamation district
6-20 on the effective date of the law enacting this section.
6-21 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.