1)  Population – The proposed district includes all of Collin, Cooke, and Denton Counties. According to the 2007 State Water Plan, the populations for the above counties are as follows:

County	2000 Population	2010 Population	2020 Population
Collin	491,774	756,088	1,033,173
Cooke	36,363	42,675	47,792
Denton	432,976	720,064	953,668

2)     Location – The proposed district’s boundaries are coextensive with the boundaries of Collin, Cooke, and Denton Counties.

3)  Comments on Powers/Duties Different from Similar Types of Districts – Unlike general law GCDs, the commissioners courts vote to confirm or reject each county’s inclusion in the District. The bill provides that the District directors are appointed by the Commissioners Courts of Collin, Cooke and Denton counties. If initial director appointments are not made within set time frames the remaining directors are responsible for filling the vacancies. If vacancies occur on the board, the commissioners court of the county is responsible for filling the vacancies on the District board. District directors are not entitled to receive fees of office for performance of duties. The office of board chair must rotate between the District counties every two years.

Existing water wells are exempt from District well spacing requirements. The District may require any new well or class of wells exempt from permitting to register the wells and comply with District spacing requirements. By rule, the District may require the owner or operator or a well or class of wells exempt from permitting to report groundwater usage, except for private domestic, livestock, or poultry water wells producing less than 25,000 gallons per day on a tract of land larger than ten acres. The District may not exercise the power of eminent domain. The District is provided authority to assess a disincentive fee for enforcement remedy purposes.

The District may not impose a tax to pay for operation and maintenance purposes. District well production fees for non-agricultural use are capped at $0.30 per 1,000 gallons and $1.00 per acre-foot annually for agricultural purposes. The District may not charge an export fee to a producer of groundwater withdrawn from a well in the District and distributed to any part of the territory under the provider’s certificate of public convenience and necessity. The District is authorized to establish, adopt, and enforce the collection of fees and establish and enforce metering and reporting requirements before the adoption of the District’s management plan. The District would be dissolved on January 1, 2010 if has not been confirmed by two of the three county commissioner courts.

4)  Overlapping Services – There are no other GCDs in Collin, Cooke, or Denton Counties. GCD functions do not conflict with services provided by other types of water districts or utilities.

5)  TCEQ’s Supervision – As with general law GCDs, the TCEQ will have general supervisory authority, including bond review authority and authority as it is related to the District’s development and implementation of a management plan. The District would not have to comply with TCEQ financial auditing requirements.

6)  Water Use – Within Collin, Cooke, and Denton Counties, the groundwater use and sources are as follows: