The Legislative Budget Board, in cooperation with the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), has determined that:

The bill creates, subject to a confirmation election, the Terrell County Groundwater Conservation District (District) in Terrell County with the powers and duties of Water Code, Chapter 36 related to general law for groundwater conservation districts (GCDs). The purpose of the District is to benefit property by providing for the conservation, preservation, protection, recharging, and prevention of waste of groundwater, and to control subsidence caused by the withdrawal of groundwater under powers conferred by Article XVI, Section 59 of the Texas Constitution. Creation of the District is subject to a confirmation election.    

1)  Population – Terrell County is projected to grow from a population of 1,081 in the year 2000 to 1,156 in 2010 and to 1,200 in 2020.

2)  Location – The district is a groundwater conservation district comprised of all the territory within Terrell County.

3) Comments on Powers/Duties Different from Similar Types of Districts – Unlike general law GCDs, the bill provides that the Commissioners Court of Terrell County shall, before October 17, 2011, appoint four temporary directors to represent each commissioners precinct and that the Terrell County Judge shall appoint one temporary director to represent the county at-large. At least one temporary director must represent rural water suppliers, one must represent agricultural interests, and one must represent industrial interests. The temporary directors are required to hold a confirmation and initial directors’ election and the bill provides specific ballot language. The District would be dissolved on December 31, 2012, if it is not confirmed by this date, and the temporary directors would serve until all incurred debts are paid and assets transferred to Terrell County. If confirmed by the voters, the initial elected directors would draw lots to determine staggered two- and four-year terms ending in May of even-numbered years. On the uniform election date in May of even-numbered years, the appropriate number of directors will be elected. Four of the elected directors will represent each one of the four commissioners’ precincts and one elected director will represent the county at-large. The bill provides that directors may not receive fees of office that exceed $50 a day or $3,000 a year. Under the Water Code, general law GCD directors are elected by the single-precinct method and may receive fees of office not to exceed $150 a day or $9,000 a year.

Unlike general law GCDs, the District may not purchase, sell, transport, or distribute surface water or groundwater for any purpose, or exercise the power of eminent domain. The District’s initial well production fees may not exceed $0.25 per acre-foot of water used for agricultural irrigation and $0.0425 per 1,000 gallons for water used for any other purposes and the fees may be increased at a cumulative rate not to exceed three percent per year. The District may not levy a tax that exceeds $0.015 per $100 assessed valuation and may not exceed bond or note indebtedness of $500,000. Unlike general law GCDs, the District may regulate a municipal supply well that serves a municipal population of 121,000 or less if the rights to use the groundwater are owned by a political subdivision that is not a municipality or are owned by a municipality that has a population of 100,000 or less that purchased, owned, or held rights to the groundwater before the District’s creation.

4) Overlapping Services - There are no other GCDs in Terrell County. GCD functions do not conflict with services provided by other types of water districts or utilities.

5)  TCEQ 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 Terrell County, sixty-nine percent of the water used was groundwater in 2008.  Forty-seven percent of groundwater pumping was for municipal purposes.  The groundwater in Terrell County was drawn entirely from the Edwards-Trinity Plateau aquifer in 2008.