Bill Text: TX HB1479 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the transfer of certain permitted irrigation water rights related to a certain portion of the Edwards Aquifer.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-12 - Left pending in committee [HB1479 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB1479-Introduced.html

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86R7356 SLB-F
By: King of Uvalde H.B. No. 1479

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the transfer of certain permitted irrigation water
rights related to a certain portion of the Edwards Aquifer.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1.34, Chapter 626, Acts of the 73rd
Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1.34. TRANSFER OF RIGHTS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Development" means:
(A) actual construction on and physical
alteration of land caused by the installation of utilities, the
construction of roads, parking lots, driveways, foundations,
structures, buildings, stormwater collection systems, public
parks, athletic fields, or similar improvements, and the rezoning
of the land so that it can no longer be used for agricultural
purposes; and
(B) that:
(i) the owner of the land no longer seeks to
designate the land as qualified open-space land or for agricultural
use in accordance with Subchapters C and D, Chapter 23, Tax Code;
and
(ii) the chief appraiser in the county in
which the land is located has made a determination that a change in
land use has occurred under Section 23.46 or 23.55, Tax Code.
(2) "Irrigated land" means the lands irrigated during
the historical period, as described by Section 1.16, that provided
the basis for the issuance of an initial regular permit for
irrigation use and identified as the place of use in the initial
regular permit.
(b) Water withdrawn from the aquifer must be used within the
boundaries of the authority.
(c) [(b)] The authority by rule may establish a procedure by
which a person who installs water conservation equipment may sell
the water conserved.
(d) [(c)] Except as otherwise provided by this section, a
[A] permit holder may lease permitted water rights, but a holder of
a permit for irrigation use may not lease more than 50 percent of
the irrigation rights initially permitted. The user's remaining
irrigation water rights must be used in accordance with the
original permit and must pass with transfer of the irrigated land.
(e) Except as provided by Subsection (f), the owner of the
irrigated land may sever the remaining water rights for use in
irrigation in the same proportion as the proportion of developed
and undeveloped land. Water rights used for irrigation tied to
portions of land that cannot be developed due to location within a
floodplain or are impractical to develop due to shape or topography
may be included in the proportion of land considered developed.
Water rights for use in irrigation severed under this subsection
may change in use, so long as the use is in the same county as the
original use and consistent with authority rules. Rules adopted to
implement this subsection may not expand the type of land
considered developed.
(f) The authority may adopt rules to provide for a holder of
an initial regular permit for use in irrigation to lease the full
amount of the water rights for use in irrigation granted in the
initial permit to another person for irrigating land located in the
authority.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.