SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 526

WHEREAS, The Senate of the State of Texas recognizes the achievements of the Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Program; and

WHEREAS, The Edwards Aquifer is a unique groundwater resource, serving as the primary source of drinking water for over two million people and meeting the agricultural, industrial, and recreational needs of the majority of South Central Texas; and

WHEREAS, The Edwards Aquifer is the source of the two most prominent springs in Texas, the San Marcos Springs and the Comal Springs, which feed the San Marcos and Comal Rivers, both major tributaries of the Guadalupe River; and

WHEREAS, The San Marcos and Comal Springs are home to eight species that are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act as threatened or endangered; and

WHEREAS, In 2007, the Texas Legislature directed the Edwards Aquifer Authority and four state agencies to participate in a consensus-based process with multiple representatives of vastly diverse interests to prepare a habitat conservation plan for managing the Edwards Aquifer in a manner that would protect the threatened and endangered species at the springs while maintaining the Edwards Aquifer as a viable resource for the needs of the region; and

WHEREAS, The ultimate goal of the process, known as the Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Program, was to work through stakeholders, including representatives of environmental, water authority and purveyor, industrial, municipal, public utility, state agency, and agricultural interests, in order to come to agreement on the elements and programs for a habitat conservation plan and to have the plan approved by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service by 2012; and

WHEREAS, The Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Program did indeed come to agreement on the Edwards Aquifer Habitat Conservation Plan, which was submitted to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 2011 and was officially approved in March 2013; and

WHEREAS, The approved Edwards Aquifer Habitat Conservation Plan represents a successful resolution to decades of disagreement over the management of the Edwards Aquifer that will shield the Edwards Aquifer region from further litigation under the Endangered Species Act, avoid the threat of federal intervention into the management of a natural resource of the State of Texas, and provide unprecedented assurance to the users of the Edwards Aquifer that they will be able to rely on Edwards Aquifer groundwater to meet their various needs; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 83rd Legislature, hereby acknowledge the historic achievement of all participants in the Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Program and recognize the positive impact of their actions on the Edwards Aquifer Region, both today and for years to come; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared to commemorate the success of this program.

Hegar, et al.

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Member, Texas Senate

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Member, Texas Senate Member, Texas Senate

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Member, Texas Senate Member, Texas Senate

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President of the Senate

I hereby certify that the above Resolution was adopted by the Senate on March 25, 2013.

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Secretary of the Senate