By: Larson H.B. No. 2577
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to water well recordkeeping and reporting requirements,
  including the production, use, and withdrawal of groundwater.
 
 
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 36.111, Water Code, is amended to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 36.111.  RECORDS AND REPORTS. (a)  The district shall
  [may] require that records be kept and reports be made of the
  drilling, equipping, and completing of water wells and of the
  production and use of groundwater.
         (b)  In implementing Subsection (a), a district may adopt
  rules, consistent with rules adopted by the Texas Water Development
  Board under Subsection (c), that require an owner or operator of a
  water well that is required to be registered with or permitted by
  the district[, except for the owner or operator of a well that is
  exempt from permit requirements under Section 36.117(b)(1),] to
  report groundwater withdrawals [using reasonable and appropriate
  reporting methods and frequency].
         (c)  The Texas Water Development Board, after consulting
  with representatives of districts regarding reasonable and
  appropriate reporting methods and frequency of reporting, shall
  adopt rules requiring the owner or operator of a well to report
  groundwater withdrawals to the district in which the well is
  located. In adopting rules under this subsection, the Texas Water
  Development Board:
               (1)  must consider all methods of tracking groundwater
  withdrawals, including metering and formulas;
               (2)  must provide for the exemption of a well that is
  exempt from permit requirements under Section 36.117(b)(1);
               (3)  may not discriminate based on well type, but may
  provide for the exemption of:
                     (A)  domestic wells;
                     (B)  livestock wells;
                     (C)  wells that have a capacity of less than 100
  gallons per minute; and
                     (D)  wells that produce less than 10 acre feet
  annually; and
               (4)  regarding wells that are not located in a
  district, must require the owner or operator of the well to report
  groundwater withdrawals to the Texas Water Development Board.
         SECTION 2.  The Texas Water Development Board shall adopt
  the rules required by Subsection (c), Section 36.111, Water Code,
  as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after the effective
  date of this Act.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.