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H.B. No. 2250
AN ACT
relating to the powers and duties of the Rio Grande watermaster and
the delivery of water down the banks and bed of the Rio Grande.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 11, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 11.3271 to read as follows:
Sec. 11.3271. POWERS AND DUTIES OF RIO GRANDE WATERMASTER;
DELIVERY OF WATER DOWN BANKS AND BED OF RIO GRANDE. (a) This
section applies only to the watermaster with jurisdiction over the
Rio Grande and the water division for which that watermaster is
appointed.
(b) The watermaster shall divide the water of the streams or
other sources of supply of the division in accordance with the
adjudicated water rights.
(c) The watermaster shall regulate or cause to be regulated
the controlling works of reservoirs and diversion works in time of
water shortage, as is necessary because of the rights existing in
the streams of the division, or as is necessary to prevent the waste
of water or its diversion, taking, storage, or use in excess of the
quantities to which the holders of water rights are lawfully
entitled.
(d) The watermaster may regulate the distribution of water
from any system of works that serves users whose rights have been
separately determined.
(e) The watermaster's duties do not include activities that
relate to other programs of the commission, except as provided by
this section. The watermaster's duties shall include activities
that relate to situations of imminent threat to public health and
safety or the environment. The commission shall adopt rules:
(1) defining situations of imminent threat under this
section; and
(2) addressing the watermaster's duties in response to
terrorism.
(f) The watermaster may store in a reservoir for release at
a later time water in transit that is being conveyed down the banks
and bed of the Rio Grande under a permit issued by the commission
and in accordance with rules prescribed by the commission. In this
section, "water in transit" means privately owned water, not
including state water, that a person has pumped from an underground
reservoir and that is in transit between the point of discharge into
the river and the place of use or the point of diversion by a person
who has contracted with the owner of the water to purchase the
water. The contract must specify that the contract is for the
purchase and delivery of a specified amount of water less the
carriage losses incurred in transit, as described and measured
according to commission rules.
(g) The watermaster may store water under Subsection (f)
only if the storage does not hinder the ability of any other holders
of Rio Grande surface water rights to store the maximum authorized
capacity in a reservoir as specified by commission rules and
relevant permits, certified filings, or certificates of
adjudication.
(h) Before granting a permit to convey water down the banks
and bed of the Rio Grande, the commission shall adopt rules that
provide for the methods and procedures by which the watermaster
shall account for any discharge, delivery, conveyance, storage,
diversion, or associated loss of water conveyed down the banks and
bed of the Rio Grande. A permit to convey water down the banks and
bed of the Rio Grande may not allow the permit holder to share in any
beneficial state water inflows into the Rio Grande. The permit
holder is entitled to convey only the amount of water specified in
the permit, less the carriage losses incurred in transit, as
described and measured according to commission rules. A rule
adopted by the commission under this subsection must be consistent
with the Treaty Relating to the Utilization of the Waters of the
Colorado and Tijuana Rivers, and of the Rio Grande (Rio Bravo) from
Fort Quitman, Texas, to the Gulf of Mexico, concluded by the United
States and the United Mexican States on February 3, 1944, and with
any minute order adopted by the International Boundary and Water
Commission.
(i) In considering an application for a permit to convey
water down the banks and bed of the Rio Grande, the commission shall
consider the quality of the water to be conveyed. The commission
may not issue a permit if it determines that the water to be
conveyed would degrade the water quality of the Rio Grande.
(j) The watermaster shall maintain a central repository
which shall be made available to the public that includes certified
copies of all instruments, including deeds, deeds of trust, and
liens, that the commission requires to be filed in connection with
water rights relating to water in the lower, middle, or upper basin
of the Rio Grande and that are subject to a permit, certified
filing, or certificate of adjudication. On or after September 1,
2003, a lien against a water right shall not be effective against
third parties unless a certified copy of the instrument is filed
with the watermaster and all requirements under other law are met.
The validity of any liens or filings made prior to September 1,
2003, is not affected by this section. This section does not affect
the validity of a lien as between the holder of the water right and
the holder of the lien or the requirements or validity of any other
law governing the perfection and recordation of these instruments.
The executive director may charge a fee for the filing of certified
copies of instruments. A fee collected under this section shall be
deposited to the credit of the watermaster fund.
(k) This section does not apply to the Rio Grande above the
Fort Quitman Dam.
SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
(b) As soon as practicable after September 1, 2003, the
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall adopt rules
necessary for the implementation of this Act and shall expedite any
application for a permit for the delivery of water down the banks
and bed of the Rio Grande under Section 11.042, Water Code.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2250 was passed by the House on May 2,
2003, by a non-record vote; and that the House concurred in Senate
amendments to H.B. No. 2250 on May 28, 2003, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2250 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 27, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor