HB 4896

relating to rules and reports related to brackish groundwater
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1.  Section 16.060(b), Water Code, is amended to
(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
(2)  identification and evaluation of research,
regulatory, technical, and financial impediments to the
implementation of seawater or brackish groundwater desalination
(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
(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
(i)  an area of the Edwards Aquifer subject
to the jurisdiction of the Edwards Aquifer Authority;
(a)  Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer
(b)  Harris-Galveston Subsidence
(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
(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
(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
(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
(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
(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.