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79R7918 QS-F

By:  Flores                                                       H.B. No. 2009



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the recording of certain instruments with the Rio 
Grande Watermaster.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 11.3271(j), Water Code, as added by 
Chapter 385, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, 
is redesignated as Section 11.3272, Water Code, and amended to read 
as follows:
	Sec. 11.3272.  OFFICIAL RECORDING OF INSTRUMENTS WITH RIO 
GRANDE WATERMASTER.  (a) [(j)]  Notwithstanding any other law, the 
watermaster with jurisdiction over the Rio Grande is the official 
recorder and central repository for all instruments, including 
deeds, deeds of trust, financing statements, security agreements, 
and liens, that are authorized or required under any law or rule
[the commission authorizes or requires] to be filed in connection 
with water rights relating to water in the lower, middle, or upper 
basin of the Rio Grande that are subject to a permit, certified 
filing, or certificate of adjudication.
	(b)  An instrument described by Subsection (a) shall be filed 
with the watermaster [under this subsection] in the same manner as 
required by other law for the same type of instrument.  The filing 
of an instrument under this section [subsection] results in the 
same legal and administrative status and consequences as a filing 
under other law for the same type of instrument.  An instrument 
filed under this section [subsection] shall be construed by a 
court, financial institution, or other affected person in the same 
manner as an instrument of the same type that is filed under other 
law.
	(c)  The watermaster may charge and collect a fee for the 
recordation of instruments under this section [subsection] in the 
same amount as the fee collected by the county clerk of Cameron 
County for the recordation of similar instruments.
	(d)  The commission by rule shall prescribe the procedures 
necessary for the proper implementation of this section
[subsection], including reasonable transition provisions, if 
appropriate.  This section is not limited to instruments that the 
commission authorizes or requires to be filed with the watermaster.  
The commission may not adopt a rule that limits or otherwise 
compromises the function of the watermaster as the official 
recorder and central repository for all instruments described by 
this section.
	SECTION 2.  A rule adopted by the Texas Commission on 
Environmental Quality before, on, or after the effective date of 
this Act that excludes from being recorded with the Rio Grande 
Watermaster an instrument described by Section 11.3272, Water Code, 
as redesignated from Section 11.3271(j), Water Code, and amended by 
this Act, or that makes the Rio Grande Watermaster the filing 
authority for only certified copies of those instruments instead of 
the official recorder of those instruments, is void.
	SECTION 3.  Section 11.3271(j), Water Code, as added by 
Chapter 281, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, 
is repealed.
	SECTION 4.  The change in law made by this Act does not 
affect the validity of an instrument or lien described by Section 
11.3272, Water Code, as redesignated from Section 11.3271(j), Water 
Code, and amended by this Act, that was recorded or perfected before 
the effective date of this Act.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.