Bill Text: TX HB2078 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the joint planning of desired future conditions in groundwater management areas.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-24 - Filed [HB2078 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-HB2078-Introduced.html

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89R2804 ANG-F
By: Gerdes H.B. No. 2078

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the joint planning of desired future conditions in
groundwater management areas.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 36.1071(e), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(e) In the management plan described under Subsection (a),
the district shall:
(1) identify the performance standards and management
objectives under which the district will operate to achieve the
management goals identified under Subsection (a);
(2) specify, in as much detail as possible, the
actions, procedures, performance, and avoidance that are or may be
necessary to effect the plan, including specifications and proposed
rules;
(3) include estimates of the following:
(A) modeled available groundwater in the
district based on the desired future condition established under
Section 36.108;
(B) the amount of groundwater being used within
the district on an annual basis;
(C) the annual amount of recharge from
precipitation, if any, to the groundwater resources within the
district;
(D) for each aquifer, the annual volume of water
that discharges from the aquifer to springs and any surface water
bodies, including lakes, streams, and rivers;
(E) the annual volume of flow into and out of the
district within each aquifer and between aquifers in the district,
if a groundwater availability model is available;
(F) the projected surface water supply in the
district according to the most recently adopted state water plan;
and
(G) the projected total demand for water in the
district according to the most recently adopted state water plan;
[and]
(4) consider the water supply needs and water
management strategies included in the adopted state water plan; and
(5) include an explanation in plain language of how:
(A) the district is monitoring and tracking the
achievement of the desired future conditions established under
Section 36.108; and
(B) the district has performed in achieving the
desired future conditions established under Section 36.108 over the
preceding five-year joint planning period.
SECTION 2. Section 36.108, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (c) and (d-3) and adding Subsections (c-1) and
(d-5) to read as follows:
(c) The district representatives shall meet at least
annually to conduct joint planning with the other districts in the
management area. The representatives shall [and to] review:
(1) [the management plans,] the accomplishments of the
management area;
(2) [, and] proposals to adopt new or amend existing
desired future conditions; and
(3) not less than once during each five-year period
described by Subsection (d), the management plans of each district
in the management area.
(c-1) In reviewing the management plans under Subsection
(c), the districts shall consider:
(1) the goals of each management plan and its impact on
planning throughout the management area;
(2) the effectiveness of the measures established by
each district's management plan for conserving and protecting
groundwater and preventing waste, and the effectiveness of these
measures in the management area generally;
(3) any other matters that the boards consider
relevant to the protection and conservation of groundwater and the
prevention of waste in the management area; and
(4) the degree to which each district is achieving
[management plan achieves] the desired future conditions
established during the joint planning process through the
implementation of the district's management plan and rules.
(d-3) After each district has submitted to the district
representatives the information required under Subsection (d-2)
and made the information available for the required period of time
under Subsection (d-2a), the district representatives shall
reconvene for a joint planning meeting to review the information
required under Subsection (d-2), consider any district's suggested
revisions to the proposed desired future conditions, receive public
comment, and finally adopt the desired future conditions for the
management area. The desired future conditions must be approved by
a resolution adopted by a two-thirds vote of all the district
representatives not later than January 5, 2022. Subsequent desired
future conditions must be proposed and finally adopted by the
district representatives before the end of each successive
five-year period after that date. The district representatives
shall produce a desired future conditions explanatory report for
the management area and submit to the development board and each
district in the management area proof that notice was posted for the
joint planning meeting, a copy of the resolution, and a copy of the
explanatory report. The report must:
(1) identify each desired future condition;
(2) provide the policy and technical justifications
for each desired future condition;
(3) include documentation that the factors under
Subsection (d) were considered by the districts and a discussion of
how the adopted desired future conditions impact each factor;
(4) list other desired future condition options
considered, if any, and the reasons why those options were not
adopted; [and]
(5) discuss reasons why recommendations made by
advisory committees and relevant public comments received by the
districts during the public comment period or at the joint planning
meeting were or were not incorporated into the desired future
conditions;
(6) include an explanation in plain language of why a
desired future condition adopted for an aquifer was changed if the
desired future condition is different from the desired future
condition adopted for the aquifer over the preceding five-year
joint planning period; and
(7) include a summary of how each district is
performing in achieving the desired future conditions.
(d-5) The districts and district representatives:
(1) shall adopt desired future conditions under this
section for each 50-year planning period identified by the
executive administrator for the preparation of state and regional
water plans;
(2) shall identify interim values for the desired
future conditions adopted under Subdivision (1) for time periods
not to exceed 10 years solely to assist the districts in monitoring
interim progress in achieving the desired future conditions adopted
for the 50-year planning period; and
(3) may adopt desired future conditions under this
section for other time periods.
SECTION 3. 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, 2025.