| TO: | Honorable Robert Puente, Chair, House Committee on Natural Resources |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB911 by Callegari (Relating to the requirements for interbasin water transfers.), As Introduced |
The bill would amend several provisions in Chapter 11.085 of the Texas Water Code relating to interbasin transfers including notice and public meeting requirements, drought contingency plan requirements, water conservation plan requirements, and the ability of the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to redesignate river basins by rule. The bill would add two new exemptions regarding interbasin transfers based on contractual sales and transfers from storage reservoirs. The TWDB does not anticipate any fiscal implications to the agency associated with these revised provisions.
The bill would also repeal various sections of Chapter 11.085, most notably Subsection (s), which would remove global junior water rights provisions for interbasin transfers. According to the TWDB, the removal of junior water rights provisions for interbasin transfers could prompt regional water planning groups to amend their regional water plans to include interbasin transfers as water management strategies in their plans because as provided by the bill, these transfers would no longer be considered junior to all existing water rights in a basin and would be a more reliable water source for a region. There could be a cost to the state if the TWDB funded these water plan amendments; however, it is not anticipated to be significant.
| Source Agencies: | 580 Water Development Board, 582 Commission on Environmental Quality
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, WK, ZS, JF
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