The Legislative Budget Board in cooperation with the Water Development Board (TWDB) and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), has determined the following:

Subject to a confirmation election, the bill would create the Victoria County Groundwater Conservation District (District) providing for the powers, duties, administration, operations and financing of the District. The bill authorizes the District with the powers and duties of Texas Water Code, Chapter 36, related to the general law for Groundwater Conservation Districts (GCDs).

1) Population- The Victoria County population projections to be used in the 2007 State Water Plan show significant growth from a 2000 population of 84,088 to 93,073 in 2010. 

2) Location & Size- The District’s boundaries would be coextensive with the boundaries of Victoria County.

3) Powers- Same as general law GCDs under Texas Water Code, Chapter 36, with some taxing and regulatory limitations as noted below.

4) District Finances- Same as general law GCDs under Texas Water Code, Chapter 36, with the taxing limitation noted below. District finances under Chapter 36 include issuance of bonds and notes; levying of taxes for maintenance and operation expenses and for the repayment of bonds and notes; and, assessment of production fees, export fees, and administrative fees.

5) Board of Directors- The District would be governed by a board of five elected permanent directors serving staggered four-year terms. Unlike general law GCDs, directors would be elected according to the commissioners precinct method with one director elected from each county commissioners precinct and one director elected at-large. Temporary directors are to be appointed by the commissioner’s court within ten days of the effective date of the Act. The temporary directors are responsible for scheduling and conducting the District's confirmation election within 120 days of the effective date of the Act. The temporary directors become the initial directors if the District is confirmed by the voters. Two initial directors would serve until the first permanent directors election in November of the first even-numbered year after the year in which the District is confirmed by election, and the other three initial directors would serve until the second permanent directors election in November of the second even-numbered year. The appropriate number of directors would then be elected in November of each subsequent second year. General law GCDs under Texas Water Code, Chapter 36, have 5 to 11 directors elected by the general precinct method. In some general law GCD creation cases, commissioners’ courts are provided 90 days to appoint temporary directors.

6) Eminent Domain- Unlike general law GCDs under Texas Water Code, Chapter 36, the District is prohibited from exercising the power of eminent domain.

7) Ability to Tax- Similar to general law GCDs under Texas Water Code, Chapter 36, the District is authorized to levy a maintenance tax and to levy a tax for the repayment of bonds or notes. Both types of taxes are subject to voter authorization. The District may not levy a tax that exceeds $0.02 per $100 assessed valuation of property. Under Texas Water Code, Chapter 36, the maintenance tax for general law GCDs may not exceed $0.50 per $100 assessed valuation and the tax rate for the repayment of bonds or notes is not limited.

8) Ability To Exclude Property- As with general law for GCDs, there are no provisions to exclude property.

9) Overlapping Services- There is one GCD in Victoria County. The bill provides for the repeal of Chapter 1332, Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, (HB2643), governing the existing Crossroads Groundwater Conservation District in Victoria County. However, the bill does not provide for the repeal of Chapter 966, Article 3, Part 2, Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, (SB2, Article 3, Part 2), which also governs the existing Crossroads Groundwater Conservation District.

The primary functions of GCDs are conservation and management of groundwater resources through data collection, rules and well permitting within their boundaries. These functions do not conflict with the services provided by the other water utilities or districts in the same area. The District's boundaries include the service areas of other water utilities and districts with Certificates of Convenience and Necessity (CCN). The other known water supply or sewer-service corporations, investor-owned utilities, or local water districts or authorities in the District are the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, the Quail Creek MUD (Reg. No. P0425), the Victoria County Drainage Districts 2 and 3, the Victoria County Navigation District, the Victoria County WCIDs 1 (Reg. No. P0478) and 2 (P0479), the Aquasource Utility Inc. (CCN Nos. 11157 & 20453), the City of Victoria (CCN Nos. 10722 & 20297, the H 2 O Systems Plus (CCN No. 11548), the North Victoria Utilities Inc. (CCN No. 11817), and Victoria County (Reg. No. P0022).

10) Adequacy of Boundary Description- The District’s boundaries would be the same as the county boundaries of Victoria County and form a closure. The District is located in Groundwater Management Area 15 designated by the Texas Water Development Board for the central part of the Gulf Coast aquifer. Victoria County is not located within a Priority Groundwater Management Area designated by the TCEQ.

11) Comments on Powers /Duties Different from Similar Types of Districts- Unlike general law GCDs under Texas Water Code, Chapter 36, the temporary directors can hold subsequent elections after a one-year time period, if creation of the District is defeated by the voters. If the District is not confirmed by the fifth anniversary of the effective date of the Act, the Act will expire. General law GCDs under Chapter 36 are not authorized to have subsequent creation elections. The Act, if passed, would take effect on September 1, 2005.

12) TCEQ’s Supervision- Same as for general law GCDs, including bond review authority. The TCEQ’s supervision authority as it is related to the District’s development and implementation of a groundwater management plan would be the same as for general law GCDs. As with general law GCDs, the District would not have to comply with TCEQ financial auditing requirements.

13) State Water Plan Objectives- Water Use:  Within Victoria County, 98 percent of the total water use was groundwater in the year 2000. Fifty-six percent of the groundwater use was for municipal purposes. The proposed district would be partially located over the Gulf Coast Aquifer. The county’s total water use to be included in the 2007 State Water Plan is projected to grow relatively little, from a year 2000 total of 48,794 acre feet of use to 50,992 acre feet of use in 2050.