The Legislative Budget Board, in cooperation with the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), has determined that:
This bill creates Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District (District) with the powers and duties under Water Code Chapter 49.
Population: HB 2525 states that the boundaries of the proposed district are coextensive with the boundaries of Harris County. The 2010 Census population for Harris County was 4,093,176. The 2018 population estimate for the county was 4,698,619. The Harris County population projections adopted for the 2022 State Water Plan project the population to grow to 5,058,144 in 2030 and 5,376,099 in 2040.
Location: The proposed district's area is approximately 1,777 square miles, and the proposed boundaries of the district are coextensive with the boundaries of Harris County.
Comments on Powers/Duties Different from Similar Types of Districts:
House Committee Substitute (HCS):
The Introduced version of the bill stated that “dredging and maintenance operations” includes the removal of sediment and debris from under the water. The HCS states that includes sediment and debris that accumulates under and above the water. The Introduced version of the bill stated that the District shall perform dredging and maintenance operations on Lake Houston. The language is amended to specify that the District may form voluntary interlocal agreements with political subdivisions, corporate entities, or other persons to perform dredging and maintenance operations in areas on Lake Houston and its tributaries located within the District controlled or maintained by the party to the interlocal agreement. The District may charge a fee for dredging and maintenance operations performed under an interlocal agreement entered into under this section. The bill specifies that Dredging and maintenance operations performed by the District may not negatively affect the quality of water in Lake Houston or degrade the quality of water to be treated by the City of Houston's Northeast Water Purification Plant. The District must obtain approval before performing dredging and maintenance operations in Lake Houston from the City of Houston Public Works - Engineering Department. The District may take sand, gravel, marl, shell, and mudshell from Lake Houston and its tributaries to restore, maintain, or expand the capacity of the lake and its tributaries to convey storm flows. The District is not required to obtain a permit or pay a fee to take sand, gravel, marl, shell, or mudshell under Subsection (a) or purchase sand, gravel, marl, shell, or mudshell taken under Subsection (a). The District may deposit sand, gravel, marl, shell, or mudshell taken under Subsection (a) on private land and sell sand, gravel, marl, shell, or mudshell taken under Subsection (a). The HCS specifies that the District may not perform the same function as another conservation and reclamation district whose territory overlaps with the territory of the district, except the District may perform dredging operations if other conservation and reclamation districts are performing dredging operations in the territory of the District. The District shall study methods of financing the services provided by and improvements constructed by the district. The district shall make the results of the study conducted under this section available to the public. The HCS specifies that except as provided by Section 9602.0302, the District may not charge a fee.
Introduced:
The bill states that the District's boundaries are coextensive with the boundaries of Harris County. The bill states that the District shall perform, and may form interlocal agreements for, dredging and maintenance operations on Lake Houston. The bill states that the District may not: finance, develop, or maintain a recreational facility under Subchapter N, Chapter 49, Water Code; exercise the power of eminent domain; or perform the same functions as another conservation and reclamation district whose territory overlaps with the territory of the District. The bill states that the district may not impose an ad valorem tax.
Overlapping Services: TCEQ does not have mapping information for water and/or wastewater providers because this function was transferred from the TCEQ to the Public Utility Commission on September 1, 2014. As a result, TCEQ is unaware of possible overlapping service providers.
TCEQ's Supervision: As with general law districts, the TCEQ will have general supervisory authority, including bond review authority and review of financial reports.
Water Use: Within Harris County, 76% of the total water use was supplied by surface water, and municipal use was the largest volume water use category comprising 67% of the county total water use in 2018. The water source the proposed district might pursue is unknown.