|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to the power of a groundwater conservation district to |
|
regulate the use of groundwater so as to prevent waste. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Sections 36.001(8) and (9), Water Code, are |
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
(8) "Waste" means any one or more of the following: |
|
(A) withdrawal of groundwater from a groundwater |
|
reservoir at a rate and in an amount that causes or threatens to |
|
cause intrusion into the reservoir of water unsuitable for |
|
agricultural, gardening, domestic, or stock raising purposes; |
|
(B) the flowing or producing of wells from a |
|
groundwater reservoir if the water produced is not used for a |
|
beneficial purpose; |
|
(C) the discharge, flowing, pumping, release, |
|
or escape of groundwater from a groundwater reservoir to any other |
|
reservoir or geologic strata that does not contain groundwater; |
|
(D) pollution or harmful alteration of |
|
groundwater in a groundwater reservoir by saltwater or by other |
|
deleterious matter admitted from another stratum or from the |
|
surface of the ground; |
|
(E) wilfully or negligently causing, suffering, |
|
or allowing groundwater to flow or escape or be discharged, pumped, |
|
or released into any river, creek, natural watercourse, depression, |
|
pond, lake, reservoir, drain, sewer, street, highway, road, or road |
|
ditch, or onto any land other than that of the owner of the well |
|
unless such discharge is authorized by permit, rule, or order |
|
issued by the commission under Chapter 26; |
|
(F) groundwater pumped for irrigation that |
|
escapes as irrigation tailwater onto land other than that of the |
|
owner of the well unless permission has been granted by the occupant |
|
of the land receiving the discharge; or |
|
(G) for water produced from an artesian well, |
|
"waste" has the meaning assigned by Section 11.205. |
|
(9) "Use for a beneficial purpose" means use for: |
|
(A) agricultural, gardening, domestic, stock |
|
raising, municipal, mining, manufacturing, industrial, commercial, |
|
or recreational[, or pleasure] purposes; |
|
(B) exploring for, producing, handling, or |
|
treating oil, gas, sulphur, or other minerals; or |
|
(C) any other purpose that is useful and |
|
beneficial to the user. |
|
SECTION 2. Section 36.101(a), Water Code, is amended to |
|
read as follows: |
|
(a) A district may make and enforce rules, including rules |
|
limiting groundwater production based on tract size or the spacing |
|
of wells, to provide for conserving, preserving, protecting, and |
|
recharging of the groundwater or of a groundwater reservoir or its |
|
subdivisions in order to control subsidence, prevent degradation of |
|
water quality, or prevent waste of groundwater and to carry out the |
|
powers and duties provided by this chapter. A district may adopt |
|
and enforce rules that define waste to include activities or uses in |
|
addition to those included in the definition of waste provided by |
|
Section 36.001(8). During the rulemaking process the board shall |
|
consider all groundwater uses and needs and shall develop rules |
|
that [which] are fair and impartial and that do not discriminate |
|
between land that is irrigated for production and land that was |
|
irrigated for production and enrolled or participating in a federal |
|
conservation program. Any rule of a district that discriminates |
|
between land that is irrigated for production and land that was |
|
irrigated for production and enrolled or participating in a federal |
|
conservation program is void. |
|
SECTION 3. 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, 2007. |