By:  Wentworth                                                    S.B. No. 1629


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to goals for and certification of groundwater management 
plans.    
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 36.1071(a), Water Code, is amended to 
read as follows:   
	(a)  Following notice and hearing, the district shall, in 
coordination with surface water management entities on a regional 
basis, develop a comprehensive management plan which contains a 
management goal describing the desired future condition for the 
aquifer in quantified terms and which addresses the following 
management goals, as applicable:
		(1)  providing the most efficient use of groundwater;                         
		(2)  controlling and preventing waste of groundwater;                         
		(3)  controlling and preventing subsidence;                                   
		(4)  addressing conjunctive surface water management 
issues;                
		(5)  addressing natural resource issues;                                      
		(6)  addressing drought conditions;  and                                      
		(7)  addressing conservation.                                                 
	SECTION 2.  Section 36.1072, Water Code, is amended by 
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (h), (i), and (j)  to 
read as follows:
	(b)  Within 150 [60] days of receipt of a management plan 
adopted under Section 36.1071, the executive administrator shall 
certify a management plan if the plan is administratively complete 
and if the review committee has made the findings required by 
Subsection (i).  A management plan is administratively complete 
when it contains the information required to be submitted under 
Section 36.1071.  The executive administrator may determine that 
conditions justify waiver of the requirements under Section 
36.1071(e)(4) or justify certification of the management plan 
without the findings required by Subsection (i).
	(h)  The executive administrator shall organize a review 
committee to make recommendations regarding management plans 
submitted to the executive administrator for certification.  The 
review committee shall be composed of:
		(1)  the executive administrator or the executive 
administrator's designee;
		(2)  the executive director or the executive director's 
designee;    
		(3)  the executive director of the Parks and Wildlife 
Department or that executive director's designee; and
		(4)  a person experienced in the operation of 
groundwater conservation districts selected by the executive 
administrator.
	(i)  The review committee established under Subsection (h) 
shall recommend that the executive administrator certify a 
management plan only if the committee finds that:
		(1)  the groundwater conservation district has 
adequate resources to implement the management plan;
		(2)  the management plan's goals are consistent with 
recognized issues of concern relating to groundwater management in 
the district; and
		(3)  the management plan's goals, management 
objectives, and performance standards are either:
			(A)  adequate to maintain current groundwater 
conditions in the district if those conditions are at or near 
natural conditions; or
			(B)  designed to improve the management and 
conservation of groundwater resources where depletion of those 
resources has been documented.
	(j)  The board may reimburse the person selected to serve on 
the review committee under Subsection (h)(4) for the reasonable 
costs incurred for travel, lodging, and meals in serving on the 
review committee.
	SECTION 3.  (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, 2005.
	(b)  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to a 
management plan submitted under Section 36.1071, Water Code, on or 
after the effective date of this Act.