84R621 SGA-F
	By: Workman	H.B. No. 4038

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the creation of the Western Travis County Groundwater
	Conservation District; providing general law authority to issue
	bonds; providing authority to impose fees.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subtitle H, Title 6, Special District Local Laws
	Code, is amended by adding Chapter 8871 to read as follows:
	CHAPTER 8871. WESTERN TRAVIS COUNTY GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION
	DISTRICT
	SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
	Sec. 8871.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
	(1)  "Board" means the district's board of directors.
	(2)  "Director" means a board member.
	(3)  "District" means the Western Travis County
	Groundwater Conservation District.
	Sec. 8871.002.  NATURE OF DISTRICT. The district is a
	groundwater conservation district in Travis County created under
	and essential to accomplish the purposes of Section 59, Article
	XVI, Texas Constitution.
	Sec. 8871.003.  FINDINGS OF PUBLIC USE AND BENEFIT. (a) The
	district is created to serve a public use and benefit.
	(b)  All land and other property included in the district
	will benefit from the works and projects accomplished by the
	district under the powers conferred by Section 59, Article XVI,
	Texas Constitution.
	Sec. 8871.004.  INITIAL DISTRICT TERRITORY. (a) The
	district is initially composed of the territory described by
	Section 2 of the Act creating this chapter.
	(b)  The boundaries and field notes contained in Section 2 of
	the Act creating this chapter form a closure. A mistake made in the
	field notes or in copying the field notes in the legislative process
	does not affect the district's:
	(1)  organization, existence, or validity;
	(2)  right to issue any type of bond for the purposes
	for which the district is created or to pay the principal of and
	interest on a bond; or
	(3)  legality or operation.
	Sec. 8871.005.  CONFIRMATION ELECTION NOT REQUIRED. An
	election to confirm the creation of the district is not required.
	SUBCHAPTER B.  TEMPORARY AND INITIAL DIRECTORS
	Sec. 8871.021.  APPOINTMENT OF TEMPORARY DIRECTORS;
	VACANCIES; TERMS.  (a)  Five persons who reside in the district
	shall be appointed as temporary directors not later than the 90th
	day after the effective date of the Act creating this chapter as
	follows:
	(1)  the county judge of Travis County shall appoint
	one temporary director;
	(2)  the county commissioner for the county
	commissioners precinct in which the district is located shall
	appoint two temporary directors;
	(3)  the state representative who represents the house
	district in which the district is located shall appoint one
	temporary director; and
	(4)  the state senator who represents the senate
	district in which the district is principally located shall appoint
	one temporary director.
	(b)  If a temporary director fails to qualify for office or a
	vacancy occurs on the temporary board, the remaining temporary
	directors shall appoint a person to fill the vacancy. If at any time
	there are fewer than three temporary directors, the state
	representative under Subsection (a)(3) shall appoint the necessary
	number of persons to fill all vacancies on the board.
	(c)  Temporary directors serve until the date initial
	directors are elected at an election held under Section 8871.024.
	Sec. 8871.022.  ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING. (a) Not later than
	the 45th day after the date on which the fifth temporary director is
	appointed under Section 8871.021, the temporary directors shall
	hold the organizational meeting of the district.
	(b)  The temporary directors shall select from among
	themselves a president, a vice president, and a secretary.
	Sec. 8871.023.  AUTHORITY OF TEMPORARY DIRECTORS. (a)
	Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d) or otherwise by this
	subchapter, the temporary directors of the district have the same
	permitting and general management powers as those provided for
	initial and permanent directors under this chapter and Chapter 36,
	Water Code.
	(b)  The temporary directors or their designees have the
	authority to enter any public or private property located in the
	district to inspect a water well as provided by Section 36.123,
	Water Code.
	(c)  Except as provided by Section 8871.024, the temporary
	directors do not have the authority granted by the following
	provisions of Chapter 36, Water Code:
	(1)  Sections 36.017, 36.019, 36.020, and 36.059;
	(2)  Sections 36.105, 36.1071, 36.1072, 36.1073, and
	36.108;
	(3)  Sections 36.171-36.181;
	(4)  Sections 36.201-36.204; and
	(5)  Subchapters J and K.
	(d)  The temporary directors may regulate the transfer of
	groundwater out of the district as provided by Section 36.122,
	Water Code, but may not prohibit the transfer of groundwater out of
	the district.
	Sec. 8871.024.  INITIAL DIRECTORS' ELECTION. (a)  The
	temporary directors shall order an election in the district to be
	held not later than the uniform election date in November 2017 to
	elect the initial directors.
	(b)  At the initial directors' election, the temporary board
	shall have placed on the ballot the names of the candidates who are
	eligible under Section 8871.052 for each of the five positions on
	the board.
	(c)  Section 41.001(a), Election Code, applies to an
	election held under this section.
	(d)  Except as provided by this section, the initial
	directors' election must be conducted as provided by the Election
	Code and Sections 36.017(b), (c), and (e), Water Code.
	Sec. 8871.025.  INITIAL DIRECTORS. (a)  Promptly after the
	election has been held under Section 8871.024 and the votes have
	been canvassed, the temporary directors shall:
	(1)  declare for each board position the person who
	receives the most votes for that position to be elected as the
	initial director for that position; and
	(2)  include the results of the initial directors'
	election in the district's election report to the Texas Commission
	on Environmental Quality.
	(b)  The temporary directors shall determine whether
	staggered terms are in the best interest of the district and shall
	set the terms of the initial directors as follows:
	(1)  to establish staggered terms, two initial
	directors serve two-year terms and three initial directors serve
	four-year terms; or
	(2)  to establish non-staggered terms, all five initial
	directors serve four-year terms.
	SUBCHAPTER C.  BOARD OF DIRECTORS
	Sec. 8871.051.  GOVERNING BODY; TERMS.  (a)  The district is
	governed by a board of five directors elected at large.
	(b)  Directors elected after the election held under Section
	8871.024 serve four-year terms.
	Sec. 8871.052.  ELIGIBILITY. To be eligible to be a
	candidate for or to serve as a director, a person must be a resident
	of the district.
	SUBCHAPTER D.  POWERS AND DUTIES
	Sec. 8871.101.  GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT POWERS
	AND DUTIES. Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, the
	district has the powers and duties provided by the general law of
	this state, including Chapter 36, Water Code, applicable to
	groundwater conservation districts created under Section 59,
	Article XVI, Texas Constitution.
	Sec. 8871.102.  EXEMPT WELLS. (a)  Groundwater withdrawals
	from the following wells may not be regulated, permitted, or
	metered by the district:
	(1)  a well used for domestic use by a single private
	residential household and incapable of producing more than 25,000
	gallons per day; and
	(2)  a well used for conventional farming and ranching
	activities, including such intensive operations as aquaculture,
	livestock feedlots, or poultry operations.
	(b)  The district may not charge or collect a well
	construction fee for a well described by Subsection (a)(2).
	(c)  A well owner must obtain a permit and pay any required
	fees, including a well construction fee, before using any
	groundwater withdrawn from a well for purposes other than those
	exempted by this section.
	(d)  A well used for dewatering and monitoring in the
	production of coal or lignite is exempt from permit requirements,
	regulations, and fees imposed by the district.
	(e)  The district may not enter property to inspect an exempt
	well without the property owner's permission.
	Sec. 8871.103.  NO EMINENT DOMAIN POWER. The district may
	not exercise the power of eminent domain.
	SUBCHAPTER E. FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
	Sec. 8871.151.  WELL CONSTRUCTION FEE. The district may
	charge and collect a new well construction fee not to exceed $1,000
	for a new well.
	Sec. 8871.152.  PERMIT RENEWAL APPLICATION FEE. The
	district may charge and collect a permit renewal application fee
	not to exceed $400.
	Sec. 8871.153.  SERVICE CONNECTION FEE. (a) This section
	does not apply to a water utility that has surface water as its sole
	source of water.
	(b)  The district may levy and collect a water utility
	service connection fee not to exceed $1,000 for each new water
	service connection made after September 1, 2015.
	Sec. 8871.154.  TAXES AND OTHER FEES PROHIBITED. The
	district may not:
	(1)  impose a tax; or
	(2)  assess or collect any fees except as authorized by
	Section 8871.151, 8871.152, or 8871.153.
	SECTION 2.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b), the
	Western Travis County Groundwater Conservation District initially
	includes all the territory contained in the following area:
	Beginning at the point of intersection of the current western
	boundary of the Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer Conservation
	District and the Colorado River, then following westerly along the
	southern border of the Colorado River and Lake Travis to the western
	Travis County Boundary, then proceeding south along the western
	Travis County Boundary to the intersection of the Travis County
	boundary and the Hays County boundary, then south east along the
	southern Travis County boundary to the current western boundary of
	the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District; then
	north-east along the western boundary of the Barton Springs-Edwards
	Aquifer Conservation District, the point of beginning.
	(b)  The territory of the Western Travis County Groundwater
	Conservation District does not include any territory that on the
	effective date of this Act is in the corporate limits or
	extraterritorial jurisdiction of:
	(1)  the City of Bee Cave;
	(2)  the City of Lakeway;
	(3)  the City of West Lake Hills;
	(4)  the Village of Briarcliff; or
	(5)  the Village of the Hills.
	SECTION 3.  (a)  The legal notice of the intention to
	introduce this Act, setting forth the general substance of this
	Act, has been published as provided by law, and the notice and a
	copy of this Act have been furnished to all persons, agencies,
	officials, or entities to which they are required to be furnished
	under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and Chapter 313,
	Government Code.
	(b)  The governor, one of the required recipients, has
	submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Commission on
	Environmental Quality.
	(c)  The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed
	its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor, the
	lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
	representatives within the required time.
	(d)  All requirements of the constitution and laws of this
	state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect
	to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act are fulfilled
	and accomplished.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.