2015S0380-1 03/03/15
 
  By: Campbell S.B. No. 963
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the creation of the Comal Trinity Groundwater
  Conservation District; providing authority to issue bonds;
  providing authority to impose assessments and fees.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subtitle H, Title 6, Special District Local Laws
  Code, is amended by adding Chapter 8875 to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 8875.  COMAL TRINITY GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
  SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
         Sec. 8875.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
               (1)  "Board" means the board of directors of the
  district.
               (2)  "Commissioners court" means the Comal County
  Commissioners Court.
               (3)  "Director" means a member of the board.
               (4)  "District" means the Comal Trinity Groundwater
  Conservation District.
               (5)  "Domestic use" means residential household use.
               (6)  "Exempt well" means:
                     (A)  a well incapable of producing more than
  10,000 gallons of groundwater a day;
                     (B)  a metered well that produces not more than 10
  acre-feet of groundwater in a calendar year; or
                     (C)  a well that is drilled, completed, or
  equipped so that it is incapable of producing more than 25,000
  gallons of groundwater a day and produces water for domestic use or
  for livestock or poultry, regardless of land lot size.
               (7)  "Existing well" means a well drilled into or
  through the Trinity Aquifer on or before the effective date of the
  Act enacting this chapter.
               (8)  "New well" means a well drilled into or through the
  Trinity Aquifer after the effective date of the Act enacting this
  chapter.
               (9)  "Trinity Aquifer" means the Trinity Group of
  aquifers, including the Upper Trinity, consisting of the upper Glen
  Rose Limestone; the Middle Trinity, consisting of the lower member
  of the Glen Rose Limestone, the Hensell Sand, and the Cow Creek
  Limestone; and the Lower Trinity, consisting of the Sligo Limestone
  and Hosston Sand.
         Sec. 8875.002.  NATURE OF DISTRICT. The district is a
  groundwater conservation district in Comal County created under and
  essential to accomplish the purposes of Section 59, Article XVI,
  Texas Constitution.
         Sec. 8875.003.  INITIAL DISTRICT TERRITORY. The initial
  boundaries of the district are coextensive with the boundaries of
  Comal County, excluding any territory that is included in the
  boundaries of the Trinity Glen Rose Groundwater Conservation
  District.
         Sec. 8875.004.  CONFLICTS OF LAW. This chapter prevails over
  any provision of general law, including a provision of Chapter 36,
  Water Code, that is in conflict or is inconsistent with this
  chapter.
  SUBCHAPTER B. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
         Sec. 8875.051.  APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTORS. (a)  The district
  is governed by a board of seven directors appointed by the
  commissioners court as follows:
               (1)  three directors from the incorporated areas of
  Comal County; and
               (2)  four directors, one from each of the four
  commissioners court precincts.
         (b)  The commissioners court shall, to the degree possible,
  consider directors familiar with the use of water by industry and
  commerce, municipal and rural utilities, agriculture, and private
  wells.
         (c)  A person appointed as a director must be a registered
  voter of Comal County.
         (d)  A vacancy on the board shall be filled by the
  commissioners court. A qualified person to fill a vacancy shall be
  appointed to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.
         (e)  The commissioners court shall appoint the district's
  initial directors not later than December 31, 2015.
         Sec. 8875.052.  ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING OF DIRECTORS.
  (a)  As soon as practicable after all the directors have qualified
  under Section 36.055, Water Code, a majority of the directors shall
  convene the organizational meeting of the district at a location
  within the district agreeable to a majority of the directors. At
  the meeting, the directors shall elect a chair, vice chair,
  secretary, and treasurer from among the directors.
         (b)  The initial directors shall draw lots to determine which
  two directors shall serve a four-year term, which two directors
  shall serve a three-year term, which two directors shall serve a
  two-year term, and which director shall serve a one-year term.
  Subsequent directors shall serve staggered four-year terms.
         Sec. 8875.053.  RULES AND FEES. The board may adopt rules
  and assess fees to manage and operate the district.
  SUBCHAPTER C. POWERS AND DUTIES
         Sec. 8875.101.  DISTRICT POWERS AND DUTIES. The district
  has the rights, powers, privileges, functions, and duties provided
  by the general law of this state, including Chapter 36, Water Code,
  applicable to groundwater conservation districts created under
  Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution.
         Sec. 8875.102.  CONTRACTS. The district may contract with a
  state agency or political subdivision, including, but not limited
  to, a county, municipality, river authority, or another district,
  to carry out any function of the district.
         Sec. 8875.103.  BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES. (a)  The
  district may participate in the development and implementation of
  best management practices for water resource management in the
  district and may engage in and promote the acceptance of best
  management practices through education efforts sponsored by the
  district.
         (b)  Development and implementation of best management
  practices must address water quantity and quality practices such as
  brush management, prescribed grazing, recharge structures, water
  and silt detention and retention structures, plugging of abandoned
  wells, rainwater harvesting, and other treatment measures for the
  conservation of water resources.
         (c)  The district may not adopt or implement a best
  management practice that is in conflict with, or duplicative of, a
  best management practice adopted by another groundwater
  conservation district whose territory covers any part of Comal
  County.
         Sec. 8875.104.  LIMITATIONS ON DISTRICT POWERS. (a)  The
  district may not:
               (1)  require the owner of an exempt well to install a
  meter or measuring device on the well;
               (2)  except as provided by Subdivision (3), and
  notwithstanding Section 36.122, Water Code, allow the sale,
  transport, or export of groundwater produced from a well inside the
  district to a person or location outside the district;
               (3)  prohibit the sale, transport, or export of
  groundwater produced from a well inside the district to a person
  located inside the territory covered by the well owner's
  certificate of public convenience and necessity if the owner of a
  well with a certificate of public convenience and necessity obtains
  a permit from the district; or
               (4)  assess and collect a production fee on an exempt
  well.
         (b)  The district does not have the authority granted by
  Sections 36.020 and 36.201-36.204, Water Code, relating to taxes.
         Sec. 8875.105.  PERMITS. Notwithstanding Section
  36.117(j), Water Code:
               (1)  an existing nonexempt well shall have its annual
  groundwater production permitted at the well's maximum production
  capacity and shall not be required to obtain a production permit;
  and
               (2)  a new nonexempt well shall obtain a permit from the
  district.
         Sec. 8875.106.  MEASURING DEVICES. (a)  The owner of an
  existing or new well that is not an exempt well shall install and
  maintain a water-well meter, or alternative measuring device or
  method approved by the district, designed to indicate the flow rate
  and cumulative amount of water withdrawn by that well, on each
  individual well no later than 36 months after the effective date of
  the Act enacting this chapter.
         (b)  A well owner is responsible for the costs of installing,
  operating, and maintaining measuring devices.
         Sec. 8875.107.  NO EMINENT DOMAIN. The district may not
  exercise the power of eminent domain.
  SUBCHAPTER D. GENERAL FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
         Sec. 8875.151.  FEES. (a)  The district may set fees for
  administrative acts of the district such as filing applications.
  Fees set by the district may not unreasonably exceed the cost to the
  district of performing the administrative function for which the
  fee is charged. The district may set fees for administrative
  management on domestic and livestock exempt wells with a cap of $15
  per year per well and a cap of $50 per year per well on other exempt
  wells.
         (b)  The district may impose reasonable production fees,
  based on the amount of groundwater actually produced, on both new
  and existing nonexempt wells. The district may not impose a
  production fee in an amount greater than:
               (1)  $1 per acre-foot for groundwater used for
  agricultural purposes; or
               (2)  $40 per acre-foot for groundwater used for any
  other purpose.
         (c)  The district may use money collected from fees:
               (1)  in any manner necessary for the management and
  operation of the district;
               (2)  to pay all or part of the principal of and interest
  on district bonds or notes; and
               (3)  for any purpose consistent with the district's
  approved water management plan.
         SECTION 2.  (a)  The legal notice of the intention to
  introduce this Act, setting forth the general substance of this
  Act, has been published as provided by law, and the notice and a
  copy of this Act have been furnished to all persons, agencies,
  officials, or entities to which they are required to be furnished
  under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and Chapter 313,
  Government Code.
         (b)  The governor, one of the required recipients, has
  submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Commission on
  Environmental Quality.
         (c)  The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed
  its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor, the
  lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
  representatives within the required time.
         (d)  All requirements of the constitution and laws of this
  state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect
  to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act are fulfilled
  and accomplished.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2015.