Relating to the joint planning of desired future conditions in groundwater management areas, the official text

H.B. No. 2078

AN ACT

relating to the joint planning of desired future conditions in

groundwater management areas.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 36.1071(e), Water Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(e) In the management plan described under Subsection (a),

the district shall:

(1) identify the performance standards and management

objectives under which the district will operate to achieve the

management goals identified under Subsection (a);

(2) specify, in as much detail as possible, the

actions, procedures, performance, and avoidance that are or may be

necessary to effect the plan, including specifications and proposed

rules;

(3) include estimates of the following:

(A) modeled available groundwater in the

district based on the desired future condition established under

Section 36.108;

(B) the amount of groundwater being used within

the district on an annual basis;

(C) the annual amount of recharge from

precipitation, if any, to the groundwater resources within the

district;

(D) for each aquifer, the annual volume of water

that discharges from the aquifer to springs and any surface water

bodies, including lakes, streams, and rivers;

(E) the annual volume of flow into and out of the

district within each aquifer and between aquifers in the district,

if a groundwater availability model is available;

(F) the projected surface water supply in the

district according to the most recently adopted state water plan;

and

(G) the projected total demand for water in the

district according to the most recently adopted state water plan;

[and]

(4) consider the water supply needs and water

management strategies included in the adopted state water plan; and

(5) include an explanation in plain language of how:

(A) the district is monitoring and tracking the

achievement of the desired future conditions established under

Section 36.108; and

(B) the district has performed in achieving the

desired future conditions established under Section 36.108 over the

preceding five-year joint planning period.

SECTION 2. Section 36.108, Water Code, is amended by

amending Subsections (c) and (d-3) and adding Subsections (c-1) and

(d-1a) to read as follows:

(c) The district representatives shall meet at least

annually to conduct joint planning with the other districts in the

management area. The representatives shall [and to] review:

(1) [the management plans,] the accomplishments of the

management area;

(2) [, and] proposals to adopt new or amend existing

desired future conditions; and

(3) not less than once during each five-year period

described by Subsection (d), the management plans of each district

in the management area.

(c-1) In reviewing the management plans under Subsection

(c), the districts shall consider:

(1) the goals of each management plan and its impact on

planning throughout the management area;

(2) the effectiveness of the measures established by

each district's management plan for conserving and protecting

groundwater and preventing waste, and the effectiveness of these

measures in the management area generally;

(3) any other matters that the boards consider

relevant to the protection and conservation of groundwater and the

prevention of waste in the management area; and

(4) the degree to which each district is achieving

[management plan achieves] the desired future conditions

established during the joint planning process through the

implementation of the district's management plan and rules.

(d-1a) The district representatives shall:

(1) adopt desired future conditions under this section

for each approximately 50-year planning period identified by the

executive administrator for the preparation of state and regional

water plans; and

(2) identify interim values for the desired future

conditions adopted under Subdivision (1) for time periods not to

exceed 10 years solely to assist the districts in monitoring

interim progress in achieving the desired future conditions adopted

for the approximately 50-year planning period.

(d-3) After each district has submitted to the district

representatives the information required under Subsection (d-2)

and made the information available for the required period of time

under Subsection (d-2a), the district representatives shall

reconvene for a joint planning meeting to review the information

required under Subsection (d-2), consider any district's suggested

revisions to the proposed desired future conditions, receive public

comment, and finally adopt the desired future conditions for the

management area. The desired future conditions must be approved by

a resolution adopted by a two-thirds vote of all the district

representatives not later than January 5, 2022. Subsequent desired

future conditions must be proposed and finally adopted by the

district representatives before the end of each successive

five-year period after that date. The district representatives

shall produce a desired future conditions explanatory report for

the management area and submit to the development board and each

district in the management area proof that notice was posted for the

joint planning meeting, a copy of the resolution, and a copy of the

explanatory report. The report must:

(1) identify each desired future condition;

(2) provide the policy and technical justifications

for each desired future condition;

(3) include documentation that the factors under

Subsection (d) were considered by the districts and a discussion of

how the adopted desired future conditions impact each factor;

(4) list other desired future condition options

considered, if any, and the reasons why those options were not

adopted; [and]

(5) discuss reasons why recommendations made by

advisory committees and relevant public comments received by the

districts during the public comment period or at the joint planning

meeting were or were not incorporated into the desired future

conditions;

(6) include an explanation in plain language of why a

desired future condition adopted for an aquifer was changed if the

desired future condition is different from the desired future

condition adopted for the aquifer over the preceding five-year

joint planning period; and

(7) include a summary of how each district is

performing in achieving the desired future conditions.

SECTION 3. 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, 2025.

______________________________
______________________________

President of the Senate
Speaker of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 2078 was passed by the House on May

16, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 97, Nays 18, 3 present, not

voting.

______________________________

Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 2078 was passed by the Senate on May

27, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.

______________________________

Secretary of the Senate

APPROVED: _____________________

Date

_____________________

Governor