78R4621 QS-F

By:  Staples                                                      S.B. No. 1843



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the purposes for which state water may be appropriated.           
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  (a)  The legislature finds that it has been the 
specific public policy of the state for many years for the Texas 
Commission on Environmental Quality and its predecessors to address 
the needs of the state's bays and estuaries by the inclusion in 
water appropriation permits, to the extent practicable when 
considering all public interests, of those conditions considered 
necessary to maintain beneficial inflows to any affected bay and 
estuary system.  It also has been the public policy of the state for 
many years for the commission and its predecessors to specifically 
consider the effect, if any, of the issuance of water appropriation 
permits on instream uses, water quality, and fish and wildlife 
habitats, and to include in those permits the conditions considered 
appropriate to address those interests.  As an essential part of the 
state's policy, all permit conditions relating to beneficial 
inflows to affected bays and estuaries and instream needs are 
subject to suspension during water shortages and other emergencies.
	(b)  The legislature finds that recent attempts by private 
interests to make specific appropriations of the remaining 
available unappropriated state water in certain river basins for 
environmental purposes that are not associated with diversion or 
storage of the water are not authorized, are contrary to the public 
welfare, and are contrary to the state's existing system of water 
rights administration that has been in existence since 1913.  The 
legislature further finds that appropriations for environmental 
purposes that are not associated with the diversion or storage of 
water are contrary to and jeopardize the state's investment in the 
regional planning process and the state water plan.
	(c)  The legislature intends that this Act reaffirm that the 
imposition in water appropriation permits of conditions that are 
subject to suspension during emergencies is the sole mechanism to 
be used by the commission in the permitting process to address the 
needs of the state's bays and estuaries and instream needs.
	SECTION 2.  Section 11.023, Water Code, is amended by 
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (g) to read 
as follows:
	(a)  State water may be appropriated for storage [, stored,] 
or diversion [diverted] for:
		(1)  domestic and municipal uses, including water for 
sustaining human life and the life of domestic animals;
		(2)  agricultural uses and industrial uses, meaning 
processes designed to convert materials of a lower order of value 
into forms having greater usability and commercial value, including 
the development of power by means other than hydroelectric;
		(3)  mining and recovery of minerals;                                         
		(4)  hydroelectric power;                                                     
		(5)  navigation;                                                              
		(6)  recreation and pleasure;                                                 
		(7)  public parks; and                                                        
		(8)  game preserves.                                                          
	(b)  State water also may be appropriated for storage [, 
stored,] or diversion [diverted] for any other beneficial use.
	(g)  State water may not be appropriated for diversion to 
sustain flows at or below the diversion point in a manner that could 
be achieved by the imposition of permit conditions.
	SECTION 3.  Section 11.131, Water Code, is amended by 
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as 
follows:
	(b)  If the commission denies an [the] application under 
Subsection (a) [this section] and the applicant elects not to 
proceed further, the commission may order any part of the fee 
submitted with the application returned to the applicant.
	(c)  The commission shall deny an application and return all 
fees if the application does not propose to beneficially use state 
water by the storage, taking, or diversion of the water.
	SECTION 4.  (a)  This Act takes effect immediately if it 
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each 
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate 
effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
	(b)  The change in law made by this Act applies to an 
application for a permit to use state water that is filed with the 
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on or after the effective 
date of this Act or that is pending with the commission on the 
effective date of this Act.