Garcia Bill Loosens Brackish Groundwater Zone Rules

The text as introduced · 807 words

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.