Bill Text: TX HB30 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to the development of seawater and brackish groundwater.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 4)

Status: (Passed) 2015-06-19 - Effective immediately [HB30 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HB30-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 30

AN ACT
relating to the development of seawater and brackish groundwater.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. (a) With this state facing an ongoing drought,
continuing population growth, and the need to remain economically
competitive, this state must secure and develop plentiful and
cost-effective water supplies to meet the ever-increasing demand
for water.
(b) Brackish groundwater is a potential new source of water
for municipal, industrial, and other purposes. This state has an
estimated 880 trillion gallons of brackish groundwater, much of
which is untapped. For many years this water was considered largely
useless for most purposes, but advances in technology and pressures
on other supplies have revealed that brackish groundwater is in
fact a vital resource. In addition to providing potentially vast
new supplies, the development of brackish groundwater can reduce
pressures on the use of fresh groundwater.
(c) Many in the oil and gas industry in this state have made
significant strides to replace the use of fresh groundwater in
their operations with brackish groundwater. This is a positive
trend, and this Act is not intended to discourage the continued or
expanded use of brackish groundwater for oil and gas development or
to establish regulatory barriers or permitting requirements for the
use of brackish groundwater for that purpose.
(d) The purpose of this Act is to provide meaningful
incentives for the development of brackish groundwater in areas
where that development would have a minimal impact on existing
fresh groundwater use, while respecting private property rights in
groundwater and continuing to encourage the use of brackish
groundwater for purposes other than human consumption.
SECTION 2. Section 16.053(e), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(e) Each regional water planning group shall submit to the
development board a regional water plan that:
(1) is consistent with the guidance principles for the
state water plan adopted by the development board under Section
16.051(d);
(2) provides information based on data provided or
approved by the development board in a format consistent with the
guidelines provided by the development board under Subsection (d);
(2-a) is consistent with the desired future conditions
adopted under Section 36.108 for the relevant aquifers located in
the regional water planning area as of the date the board most
recently adopted a state water plan under Section 16.051 or, at the
option of the regional water planning group, established subsequent
to the adoption of the most recent plan;
(3) identifies:
(A) each source of water supply in the regional
water planning area, including information supplied by the
executive administrator on the amount of modeled available
groundwater in accordance with the guidelines provided by the
development board under Subsections (d) and (f);
(B) factors specific to each source of water
supply to be considered in determining whether to initiate a
drought response;
(C) actions to be taken as part of the response;
and
(D) existing major water infrastructure
facilities that may be used for interconnections in the event of an
emergency shortage of water;
(4) has specific provisions for water management
strategies to be used during a drought of record;
(5) includes but is not limited to consideration of
the following:
(A) any existing water or drought planning
efforts addressing all or a portion of the region;
(B) approved groundwater conservation district
management plans and other plans submitted under Section 16.054;
(C) all potentially feasible water management
strategies, including but not limited to improved conservation,
reuse, and management of existing water supplies, conjunctive use,
acquisition of available existing water supplies, and development
of new water supplies;
(D) protection of existing water rights in the
region;
(E) opportunities for and the benefits of
developing regional water supply facilities or providing regional
management of water supply facilities;
(F) appropriate provision for environmental
water needs and for the effect of upstream development on the bays,
estuaries, and arms of the Gulf of Mexico and the effect of plans on
navigation;
(G) provisions in Section 11.085(k)(1) if
interbasin transfers are contemplated;
(H) voluntary transfer of water within the region
using, but not limited to, regional water banks, sales, leases,
options, subordination agreements, and financing agreements; [and]
(I) emergency transfer of water under Section
11.139, including information on the part of each permit, certified
filing, or certificate of adjudication for nonmunicipal use in the
region that may be transferred without causing unreasonable damage
to the property of the nonmunicipal water rights holder; and
(J) opportunities for and the benefits of
developing large-scale desalination facilities for seawater or
brackish groundwater that serve local or regional brackish
groundwater production zones identified and designated under
Section 16.060(b)(5);
(6) identifies river and stream segments of unique
ecological value and sites of unique value for the construction of
reservoirs that the regional water planning group recommends for
protection under Section 16.051;
(7) assesses the impact of the plan on unique river and
stream segments identified in Subdivision (6) if the regional water
planning group or the legislature determines that a site of unique
ecological value exists;
(8) describes the impact of proposed water projects on
water quality; and
(9) includes information on:
(A) projected water use and conservation in the
regional water planning area; and
(B) the implementation of state and regional
water plan projects, including water conservation strategies,
necessary to meet the state's projected water demands.
SECTION 3. Section 16.060, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections (d) and (e)
to read as follows:
(a) The board shall undertake or participate in research,
feasibility and facility planning studies, investigations, and
surveys as it considers necessary to further the development of
cost-effective water supplies from seawater or brackish
groundwater desalination in the state.
(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; [and]
(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;
(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.
(d) The board shall work together with groundwater
conservation districts and stakeholders and shall consider the
Brackish Groundwater Manual for Texas Regional Water Planning
Groups, and any updates to the manual, and other relevant
scientific data or findings when identifying and designating
brackish groundwater production zones under Subsection (b)(5).
(e) In designating a brackish groundwater production zone
under this section, the board shall:
(1) determine the amount of brackish groundwater that
the zone is capable of producing over a 30-year period and a 50-year
period without causing a significant impact to water availability
or water quality as described by Subsection (b)(5)(A); and
(2) include in the designation description:
(A) the amounts of brackish groundwater that the
zone is capable of producing during the periods described by
Subdivision (1); and
(B) recommendations regarding reasonable
monitoring to observe the effects of brackish groundwater
production within the zone.
SECTION 4. (a) The Texas Water Development Board shall
include in the biennial progress report required by Section 16.060,
Water Code, that is due not later than December 1, 2016, an
identification and designation of brackish groundwater production
zones as required by that section as amended by this Act for the
following:
(1) the portion of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer located
between the Colorado and Rio Grande Rivers;
(2) the Gulf Coast Aquifer and sediments bordering
that aquifer;
(3) the Blaine Aquifer; and
(4) the Rustler Aquifer.
(b) Not later than December 1, 2022, the Texas Water
Development Board shall identify and designate brackish
groundwater production zones for areas of this state not described
by Subsection (a) of this section.
SECTION 5. 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.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 30 was passed by the House on May 8,
2015, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 30 was passed by the Senate on May 26,
2015, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor