| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to desired future condition requirements for certain |
|
|
groundwater conservation districts. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 36.108(d), Water Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(d) Not later than September 1, 2010, and every five years |
|
|
thereafter, the districts shall consider groundwater availability |
|
|
models and other data or information for the management area and |
|
|
shall establish desired future conditions for the relevant aquifers |
|
|
within the management area. In establishing the desired future |
|
|
conditions of the aquifers under this section, the districts shall |
|
|
consider uses or conditions of an aquifer within the management |
|
|
area that differ substantially from one geographic area to another. |
|
|
Except as provided by Section 36.1085, the [The] districts may |
|
|
establish different desired future conditions for: |
|
|
(1) each aquifer, subdivision of an aquifer, or |
|
|
geologic strata located in whole or in part within the boundaries of |
|
|
the management area; or |
|
|
(2) each geographic area overlying an aquifer in whole |
|
|
or in part or subdivision of an aquifer within the boundaries of the |
|
|
management area. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended |
|
|
by adding Section 36.1085 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 36.1085. DESIRED FUTURE CONDITION REQUIREMENTS FOR |
|
|
CERTAIN DISTRICTS. (a) This section applies only to a district |
|
|
that: |
|
|
(1) is subject to Section 36.108; and |
|
|
(2) overlies any part of an aquifer for which the |
|
|
Internal Revenue Service has allowed cost depletion when a taxpayer |
|
|
can demonstrate that: |
|
|
(A) the groundwater is being depleted; and |
|
|
(B) the rate of recharge is so low that, once |
|
|
extracted, the groundwater would be lost to the taxpayer and |
|
|
immediately succeeding generations. |
|
|
(b) A district whose territory includes land in more than |
|
|
one county: |
|
|
(1) shall ensure that each geographic area in the |
|
|
district delineated by county lines independently achieves the |
|
|
desired future condition applicable to that part of the aquifer |
|
|
under the jurisdiction of the district; and |
|
|
(2) may not achieve or claim compliance with a single |
|
|
desired future condition for part of an aquifer that applies to |
|
|
multiple counties or parts of counties in the district by averaging |
|
|
different desired future conditions across those counties or parts |
|
|
of counties. |
|
|
(c) A district whose boundaries are coextensive with the |
|
|
boundaries of a county shall achieve independently of districts in |
|
|
other counties the desired future condition applicable to that part |
|
|
of the aquifer under the jurisdiction of the district. |
|
|
(d) If two or more districts in the same county are subject |
|
|
to the same desired future condition, each district shall achieve |
|
|
independently of the other district in that county the desired |
|
|
future condition applicable to that part of the aquifer under the |
|
|
jurisdiction of the district. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Section 36.1085, Water Code, as added by this |
|
|
Act, applies only to a district subject to a desired future |
|
|
condition established under Section 36.108, Water Code, as amended |
|
|
by this Act, on or after the effective date of this Act. A district |
|
|
subject to a desired future condition established under Section |
|
|
36.108, Water Code, before the effective date of this Act is |
|
|
governed by the law in effect on the date the desired future |
|
|
condition was established, and that law is continued in effect |
|
|
until the desired future condition is next established under |
|
|
Section 36.108, Water Code, as amended by this Act. |
|
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |