| |
| |
|
|
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
|
|
|
WHEREAS, The State of Texas has an effective and |
|
|
well-developed water planning process that relies on stakeholder |
|
|
input and promotes local control, but the executive and legislative |
|
|
branches of the federal government are embarking on a campaign to |
|
|
shift water resources planning from the state and local levels to |
|
|
the federal level; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Currently being considered by the federal |
|
|
government are a sweeping array of legislation, executive orders, |
|
|
and agency rules that, taken together, cover nearly all aspects of |
|
|
water resources policy and law; these measures would erode state |
|
|
and local primacy over water resources planning and management and |
|
|
severely constrain the planning and implementation successes Texas |
|
|
has already achieved; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, More than half a century ago, following an |
|
|
extraordinary drought, state legislators created the Texas Water |
|
|
Development Board to ensure the continued availability of water |
|
|
supplies; since then, state leaders have developed water planning |
|
|
processes to identify and cultivate the resources required to meet |
|
|
growing domestic, agricultural, and environmental needs; these |
|
|
carefully crafted policies address the state's unique |
|
|
environmental conditions while respecting private property rights, |
|
|
and they are essential to keeping pace with the demands of a |
|
|
population that is expected to double by the year 2060; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Increasing federal requirements and control over |
|
|
water planning and development would greatly complicate and |
|
|
unnecessarily extend the process of securing federal permits for |
|
|
many water-related projects sought by local interests, rendering |
|
|
some simply unviable; moreover, federal initiatives would be |
|
|
unlikely to incorporate sufficient input from the local, regional, |
|
|
and state stakeholders who are most impacted; regional and local |
|
|
water entities are the most knowledgeable about the needs of their |
|
|
communities and have a proven track record of expertly balancing |
|
|
the many environmental, economic, and human factors that constitute |
|
|
an effective planning discipline; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, A federally centralized approach would not only |
|
|
undermine the state's strong tradition of stewardship over its |
|
|
waters, transferring responsibility to far-removed officials, but |
|
|
would also infringe on the sovereignty of the State of Texas; the |
|
|
future of the state's economy, public health, and treasured natural |
|
|
resources is closely tied to its ability to manage and control its |
|
|
water supplies; it is therefore imperative that final decisions |
|
|
regarding the needs of local communities reside with the state, |
|
|
regional, and local entities that are so uniquely qualified to make |
|
|
them; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
|
hereby express its opposition to federal interference in state |
|
|
management of Texas' water resources; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
|
|
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
|
|
the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of |
|
|
Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the |
|
|
members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that |
|
|
this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a |
|
|
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |