The bill would amend several sections of the Water Code and set the next Sunset review date for the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to be in 2035. The bill also continues the State Water Infrastructure Fund for Texas (SWIFT) Advisory Committee for the next twelve years.
The bill would require TWDB to update its board member training manual and require board members to annually attest to receiving and reviewing the manual.
The bill would require TWDB to conduct a feasibility review of certain priority projects included in the state water plan by January 5, 2027, and by the end of each successive five-year period after that date. The feasibility review would be required to include an analysis of the implementation timeline, associated costs, land acquisition considerations, and economic impact. Based on information provided by TWDB, the agency would would need to evaluate at least one hundred projects, and due to time constraints to prevent delay of delivering the state water plan, would contract out this function.
The bill would allow regional water planning groups to plan based on conditions worse than the drought of record.
The bill would require TWDB to develop and implement goals and performance metrics that would be periodically reviewed as part of a comprehensive evaluation of the agency's review of proposed projects for compliance with programmatic and design requirements.
The bill would allow TWDB to adopt a risk-based project review system when considering project applications.
The bill repeals sections 15.108, 15.218, and 15.3061 of the Water Code to eliminate unnecessary reporting requirements on the Water Loan Assistance Program, the Water Bond Insurance Program, and the Storage Acquisition Program, respectively.
The bill would take effect on September 1, 2023.