The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Water & Rural Affairs has published their interim report to the 85th Legislature. Recommendations for five charges were made as well as several Senators wrote letters to the Chair in the report regarding the recommendations.
Sen. Kolkhorst signed the report but noted, in her letter to the Chair, her concern with the second recommendation made by the report on Charge #2. Her concern was that permitting over the MAG could result in drastic depletion of an aquifer during a severe drought or other rapid increase in demand.
Additionally, Sens. Zaffirini and Rodriguez also expressed concerns raised by some stakeholders who felt their voices were not included in the interim hearings or reflected in the report noting they would scrutinize any legislation that would “unduly inhibit local control of water management.”
Sen. Zaffirini also noted in the letter to the Chair that the interim report failed to include testimony of the San Marcos River Foundation’s Program Director or mention the litter problems on the San Marcos River.
Spotlight on Reccomendations
Recommendations for Charge 1 – Surface Water and Groundwater
- The Legislature should continue to monitor surface water permitting issues to improve the timeliness and accuracy of surface water permitting decisions.
- The Legislature should continue to monitor the effects of Section 11.085 of the Texas Water Code on the transfer of state-owned surface water from one basin to another and make any necessary changes to encourage the movement of surface water to areas of need, but only after identifying and including adequate protections for the basin of origin.
- The Legislature should:
- Acknowledge that Texas is uniquely susceptible to storm water flooding because of its size, geographic diversity, and climatic diversity;
- Recognize that storm water flooding, particularly flash flooding, causes severe hardship, economic loss, and death;
- Instruct the Board to conduct a comprehensive study on controlling storm water flooding by determining risk areas and identifying potential solutions;
- Prioritize the creation of the first State Flood Plan by using the study conducted by the Board; and
- Enact provisions that provide for the regular creation of additional, updated versions of the State Flood Plan.
- The Legislature should continue to monitor the performance of groundwater conservation districts and make any necessary changes to improve their performance.
- The Legislature should continue to monitor judicial application of oil and gas law to groundwater law and, if necessary and appropriate, codify those judicial applications.
Recommendations for Charge 2 – State Water Plan
- The Legislature should consider providing certain regional water planning groups the option to reauthorize or update their regional water plan once every ten years.
- The Legislature should modify Section 16.053, Texas Water Code, and other sections of state law or state rule, so that modeled available groundwater is no longer required to operate as a hard cap that prevents viable water management strategies from being included in regional water plans.
Recommendations for Charge 3 – Agricultural Liens
- The Legislature should continue to recognize the importance of an agricultural producer’s financial security and protect an agricultural producer's right to file an agricultural lien.
- The Legislature should monitor the effect of Senate Bill 1339, with a specific focus on activity at licensed and bonded storage warehouses, and, if necessary, make any appropriate changes.
Recommendations for Charge 4 – Windblown and Waterborne Litter
The Legislature should continue to monitor the environmental and economic effects of windborne and waterborne litter, and study state and local programs to reduce litter.
Recommendations for Charge 5 – Chronic Wasting Disease
The Legislature should:
- Monitor the effects of the rules adopted by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department regarding chronic wasting disease and, if necessary, make changes to those rules by statute;
- Acknowledge that early detection and prevention will help mitigate the spread of chronic wasting disease, which is still relatively new to the state; and
- Recognize that deer are a public resource that when destroyed by disease causes hardship and economic loss.