The Texas House released the first batch of interim reports from House committees on Thursday. Reports from nine committees were posted online. In the days and weeks to come, the House will post reports from other committees as the reports are completed.
One of those reports came from the House Committee on Natural Resources. Their interim report to the 85th Legislature includes background, analysis, and recommendations. Below is a spotlight on the recommendations directly from the report; however, for complete details please refer to the report.
Charges related to water sources used in production of food and fiber, groundwater contamination from injection wells, and oversight and monitoring of agencies were not detailed in the report.
Water Markets Recommendations
- Encourage regional planning groups to work together and across regions to consider water markets when looking for new sources of water.
- Direct groundwater conservation districts to set and enforce easy to digest rules for water markets in their area.
Desalination Recommendations
Desalination is not new to Texas, with more than 200 plants providing about 70,000 acre-feet per year to water user groups currently and that figure is expected to grow to more than 110,000 acre-feet per year by 2070. While the overwhelming majority of desalination projects are focused on brackish water sources currently, Texas is experiencing a renewed focus on seawater desalination projects. Through the TWDB, the state should continue to review the feasibility of seawater desalination plants. Siting a series of plants along the coast would provide a new form of drought-proof water for our growing industrial base and communities located in the area.
2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Recommendations
While it is extremely important for Texas to use the funding for conservation and restoration enterprises such as: waters and wetlands initiatives, fish and wildlife management, and coastal planning, the Committee urges Texas and the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council to think outside the box and make creating new supplies of water for Texas a priority while continuing to improve the ecology along the coast. To offer one example, if the state were to partner with local water providers and help develop a series of desalination projects located along the length of our coast, the water supply benefits would be tremendous. Not only would the state help create new supplies of drought-proof water which would restore and protect water quality up and down the coast, the secure supply of water would sustain communities and Gulf economies for generations to come.
To help ensure the state thinks outside the box, the Legislature should create a formal role on the Texas RESTORE Act Advisory Board (TxRAB) for individual Members to participate. The Speaker of the Texas House and the Lieutenant Governor each should be able to appoint one or more Members from their respective body to the TxRAB to provide the Legislature with a formal role in helping guide the development of the Texas RESTORE related plans.
State and Regional Planning Processes Recommendations
- The increasing complexity of the planning process limits its effectiveness as a planning tool for the state.
- Require regions to more thoroughly assess and address particular types of strategies or planning approaches.
- Provide more flexibility for regional planning groups when updating plans.
- Create an "interregional council" of regional planning group members.
- Provide for direct state involvement in a large-scale, transformative seawater desalination project.
- Provide more specific direction to regions to consider the agricultural and natural resource implications of strategies.
- Require regions to set specific Gallons-Per-Capita-Per-Day (GPCPD) goals.
- Update the Water Availability Models (WAMs) to account for the new drought of record.
Conservation Recommendations
- Water systems with infrastructure issues should make appropriate repairs when needed and are encouraged to apply for financial support through the Texas Water Development Board to help with the cost.
- Texas should promote more aquifer storage and recovery projects throughout the state to prevent freshwater loss.
- Texas should encourage more off-channel reservoirs throughout the state to prevent freshwater loss.