82R8678 SLB-F
	By: Seliger	S.B. No. 998

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the creation of a groundwater conservation district in
	a priority groundwater management area.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 35.012, Water Code, is amended by
	amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
	follows:
	(b)  Except as provided by Section 35.013, within [Within]
	two years, but no sooner than 120 days, from the date on which the
	commission issues an order under Section 35.008 designating a
	priority groundwater management area, for those areas that are not
	within a district, the commission shall[:
	[(1)]  create one or more new districts under Section
	36.0151[;
	[(2)     recommend that the areas, or a portion of the
	areas, be added to an existing district under Section 35.013; or
	[(3)     take any combination of the actions under
	Subdivisions (1) and (2)].
	(b-1)  For purposes of this section, the commission may
	consider territory in two separately designated priority
	groundwater management areas to be in the same designated priority
	groundwater management area if:
	(1)  the two areas share a common boundary and one or
	more common aquifers; and
	(2)  the commission determines that a district composed
	of territory in the two areas will result in more effective or
	efficient groundwater management than other options available to
	the commission.
	SECTION 2.  Section 35.013, Water Code, is amended by
	amending Subsections (b), (c), (e), (f), (g), and (h) and adding
	Subsections (b-1) and (g-1) to read as follows:
	(b)  The commission shall submit a copy of the order to the
	board of the district to which it is recommending the priority
	groundwater management area be added.  Not later than the 120th day
	after the date of receiving the copy, the [The] board shall vote on
	the addition of the priority groundwater management area to the
	district and shall advise the commission of the outcome.
	(b-1)  If the district described by Subsection (b) has not
	approved an ad valorem tax on the date of the commission's order
	issued under Section 35.008 and the board of the district votes to
	accept the addition of the priority groundwater management area to
	the district, the board shall enter an order adding the territory in
	the district.
	(c)  If the district described by Subsection (b) has approved
	an ad valorem tax on the date of the commission's order issued under
	Section 35.008 and the board votes to accept the addition of the
	priority groundwater management area to the district, the board:
	(1)  shall enter an order adding the territory in the
	district;
	(2)  may request the Texas AgriLife [Agricultural]
	Extension Service, the commission, and the Texas Water Development
	Board, with the cooperation and assistance of the Department of
	Agriculture and other state agencies, to administer an educational
	program to inform the residents of the status of the area's water
	resources, the addition of territory to the district, and
	[management] options for financing management of the groundwater
	resources of the [including possible annexation into a] district;
	(3) [(2)]  shall call an election to be held not later
	than the 270th day after the date of the board's vote under
	Subsection (b) within the priority groundwater management area, or
	portion of the priority groundwater management area, as delineated
	by the commission to determine if the added area will assume a
	proportional share of the debts or taxes of the district [priority
	groundwater management area will be added to the district]; and
	(4) [(3)]  shall designate election precincts and
	polling places for the elections in the order calling an election
	under this subsection.
	(e)  The ballots for the election shall be printed to provide
	for voting for or against the proposition: "The [inclusion of
	_________________________ (briefly describe priority groundwater
	management area) in the ______________ District." If the district
	has outstanding debts or taxes, the proposition shall include the
	following language: "and] assumption by the ______ (briefly
	describe the territory added under Subsection (c)(1)) [described
	area] of a proportional share of the debts or taxes of the ______
	District instead of the assessment of fees in the described area to
	fund the groundwater management activities of the district."
	(f)  Immediately after the election, the presiding judge of
	each polling place shall deliver the returns of the election to the
	board, and the board shall canvass the returns for the election
	within the priority groundwater management area and declare the
	results. If a majority of the voters in the priority groundwater
	management area voting on the proposition vote in favor of the
	proposition, the board shall declare that the priority groundwater
	management area assumes a proportional share of the debts or taxes
	of [is added to] the district. If a majority of the voters in the
	priority groundwater management area voting on the proposition do
	not vote in favor of the proposition [against adding the priority
	groundwater management area to the district], the board shall adopt
	rules to implement Subsection (g-1) [declare that the priority
	groundwater management area is not added to the district]. The
	board shall file a copy of the election results with the commission.
	(g)  The [If the voters approve adding the priority
	groundwater management area to the district, the] board of the
	district to which the priority groundwater management area is added
	shall provide reasonable representation on that board compatible
	with the district's existing scheme of representation. Not later
	than the 30th day after the date on which the board declares that
	the priority groundwater management area is added to the district,
	the board of the existing district shall appoint a person or persons
	to represent the area until the next regularly scheduled election
	or appointment of directors.
	(g-1)  If the voters do not approve the assumption of a
	proportional share of the debts or taxes of a district under
	Subsection (e), the board shall assess production fees in the added
	territory based on the amount of water authorized by permit to be
	withdrawn from a well or the amount actually withdrawn.  A district
	may use revenue generated by the fees for any district purpose.
	Production fees may not exceed:
	(1)  $2 per acre-foot payable annually for water used
	for agricultural use; or
	(2)  30 cents per 1,000 gallons payable annually for
	water used for any other purpose.
	(h)  Not later than the first anniversary of the date on
	which [If] the proposition is defeated, or [if] the board of the
	existing district votes not to accept the addition of the area to
	the district, [then] the commission shall, except as provided under
	Subsection (i):
	(1)[,]  create under Section 36.0151 one or more
	districts covering the priority groundwater management area; or
	(2)  recommend the area be added to another existing
	district as provided by this section [not later than the first
	anniversary of the date on which the proposition is defeated or the
	board votes not to accept the area].
	SECTION 3.  Section 36.0151, Water Code, is amended by
	amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c), (d), (e), and
	(f) to read as follows:
	(a)  If the commission is required to create a district under
	Section 35.012(b), it shall, without an evidentiary hearing, issue
	an order creating the district and shall provide in its order that
	temporary directors be appointed under Section 36.0161 [36.016] and
	that an election be called by the temporary directors to authorize
	the district to assess taxes and to elect permanent directors.
	(c)  The commission may amend the territory in an order
	issued under Section 35.008 or this section to adjust for areas
	that, in the time between when the order was issued under Section
	35.008 and the order is issued under this section, have:
	(1)  been added to an existing district or created as a
	separate district; or
	(2)  not been added to an existing district or created
	as a separate district.
	(d)  In making a modification under Subsection (c), the
	commission may recommend:
	(1)  creation of a new district in the area; or
	(2)  that the area be added to a different district.
	(e)  Except as provided by Section 35.013(h), a change in the
	order under Subsection (c) does not affect a deadline under Section
	35.012 or 35.013.
	(f)  The commission may not create a groundwater
	conservation district under this section in territory that exists
	in a single county in which total surface water use is more than 50
	times the total groundwater production and that is located in a
	priority groundwater management area.  To the extent of a conflict
	between this section and Section 35.012, this section controls.
	SECTION 4.  Section 36.0171(h), Water Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(h)  If the majority of the votes cast at the election are
	against the levy of a maintenance tax, the district shall set permit
	fees in accordance with Section 35.013(g-1) to pay for the
	district's regulation of groundwater in the district, including
	fees based on the amount of water to be withdrawn from a well.
	SECTION 5.  (a)  The changes in law made by this Act apply to
	any territory in a priority groundwater management area that is not
	included in a groundwater conservation district on the effective
	date of this Act.
	(b)  Not later than September 1, 2012, the Texas Commission
	on Environmental Quality shall create a district or add territory
	to an existing district for any territory for which the commission
	has issued an order recommending creation of a district or addition
	of territory to an existing district under Section 35.008, Water
	Code, before the effective date of this Act, unless the commission
	determines that the territory is not suitable under Section
	35.013(i), Water Code.
	SECTION 6.  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, 2011.