89R13827 JBD-D

By: Garcia of Bexar H.B. No. 4896

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to rules and reports related to brackish groundwater production zones.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 16.060(b), Water Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) The board shall prepare a biennial progress report on the implementation of seawater or brackish groundwater desalination activities in the state and shall submit it to the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year. The report shall include:

(1) results of the board's studies and activities relative to seawater or brackish groundwater desalination during the preceding biennium;

(2) identification and evaluation of research, regulatory, technical, and financial impediments to the implementation of seawater or brackish groundwater desalination projects;

(3) evaluation of the role the state should play in furthering the development of large-scale seawater or brackish groundwater desalination projects in the state;

(4) the anticipated appropriation from general revenues necessary to continue investigating water desalination activities in the state during the next biennium; and

(5) identification and designation of local or regional brackish groundwater production zones in areas of the state with moderate to high availability and productivity of brackish groundwater that can be used to reduce the use of fresh groundwater and that:

(A) are separated by hydrogeologic barriers sufficient to prevent significant impacts to water availability or water quality in any area of the same or other aquifers, subdivisions of aquifers, or geologic strata that have an average total dissolved solids level of 1,000 milligrams per liter or less at the time of designation of the zones; and

(B) are not located in:

(i) an area of the Edwards Aquifer subject to the jurisdiction of the Edwards Aquifer Authority;

(ii) the boundaries of the:

(a) Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer Conservation District;

(b) Harris-Galveston Subsidence District; or

(c) Fort Bend Subsidence District; or

(iii) an aquifer, subdivision of an aquifer, or geologic stratum that:

(a) has an average total dissolved solids level of more than 1,000 milligrams per liter; and

(b) is serving as a significant source of water supply for municipal, domestic, or agricultural purposes at the time of designation of the zones[; or

[(iv) an area of a geologic stratum that is designated or used for wastewater injection through the use of injection wells or disposal wells permitted under Chapter 27].

SECTION 2. Sections 36.1015(e) and (i), Water Code, are amended to read as follows:

(e) The rules adopted under this section must:

(1) provide for processing an application for a brackish groundwater production zone operating permit in the same manner as an application for an operating permit for a fresh groundwater well, except as provided by this section;

(2) allow withdrawals and rates of withdrawal of brackish groundwater from a designated brackish groundwater production zone not to exceed and consistent with the withdrawal amounts identified in Section 16.060(e);

(3) provide for a minimum term of 30 years for a permit issued for a well that produces brackish groundwater from a designated brackish groundwater production zone;

(4) require implementation of a monitoring system recommended by the development board to monitor water levels and water quality in the same or an adjacent aquifer, subdivision of an aquifer, or geologic stratum in which the designated brackish groundwater production zone is located;

(5) for a project located in a designated brackish groundwater production zone in the Gulf Coast Aquifer, require reasonable monitoring by the district of land elevations to determine if production from the project is causing or is likely to cause subsidence during the permit term;

(6) require from the holder of a permit issued under rules adopted under this section annual reports that must include:

(A) the amount of brackish groundwater withdrawn;

(B) the annual [average monthly] water quality of the brackish groundwater withdrawn and in the monitoring wells; and

(C) aquifer levels as measured in accordance with Subdivision (4) by monitoring wells required by the permit in:

(i) [both] the designated brackish groundwater production zone; and

(ii) [in] any aquifer, subdivision of an aquifer, or geologic stratum [for which the permit requires monitoring];

(7) provide greater access to brackish groundwater by simplifying procedure, avoiding delay in permitting, saving expense for the permit seeker, and providing flexibility to permit applicants and the district;

(8) be consistent with and not impair property rights described by Sections 36.002(a) and (b); and

(9) specify all additional information that must be included in an application.

(i) The district may [not] schedule a hearing on the application before [until] the district receives the report from the development board described by Subsection (h).

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.