Senate Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee,
Senate Bill 7 – public hearing at 8 am on Monday, March 24, 2025, Senate E1.012 (Hearing Room)
Senate Bill 7 by Senator Charles Perry, Chairman for the Senate Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee will be considered in a public hearing at 8 am on Monday, March 24, 2025. This piece of legislation covers the details of oversight and implementation for the $1 Billion in dedicated funding proposed in a constitutional amendment described in SJR 66.
SAWDF Executive Director, Andy Wier will give verbal & written testimony on
Monday.
Follow this link to the SB7 Bill Analysis.
SAWDF supports SB 7 because two items may help conserve the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer:
1. Section 1.1 will establish technical standardsfor water pipelines. Water wasted due to poor engineering quality (leaks!) of the Vista Ridge pipeline demonstrates the need for better standards.
2. Section 1.2 amends the Water Code by addingSubsection (e) with language that prohibits funding for fresh groundwaterprojects or pipelines— the $1 Billion in dedicated funding can NOT bespent on projects like Vista Ridge, SLR, or Manville WSC.
Testimony for Senate committees is in-person ONLY. Once at the Capitol, you may register for/against a bill, submit written testimony to the committee clerk, and/or give verbal testimony.
If you are not able to attend, we recommend you email testimony to:
Charles.Perry@senate.texas.gov& cc: Andrew.Parks_SC@senate.texas.gov
And send copies to your Senator & Representative
Lois.Kolkhorst@senate.texas.gov & cc: Grant.McLoughlin@senate.texas.gov
Stan.Gerdes@house.texas.gov & cc: Sarah.Ceraldi@house.texas.gov
House Natural Resources Committee (HNRC),
public hearing at 8am on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, House E2.036 (Hearing Room)
SAWDF will testify in-person in support of these bills.
Texas residents who wish to electronically submit comments related to agenda items on this notice without testifying in person can do so until the hearing is adjourned by visiting: https://comments.house.texas.gov/home?c=c390
HB 29 (Gerdes) Municipal Water Loss
The Speaker of the House selected this legislation by SAWDF to be one of the 30 priority bills for the House. The bill requires cities with more than 150,000 water connections to address water loss in their public utilities. This is leaky water mains of the utility— not a customer’s running toilet. This bill can reduce the need for large-scale groundwater projects such as Vista Ridge.
HB 1633 (Gerdes) GCDs must consider exempt wells when approving groundwater permits
Currently, the Water Code does not require groundwater conservation districts (GCDs) to give consideration of unreasonable impacts to domestic/livestock wells when granting or denying a permit or permit amendment. For example, in Lost Pines GCD 96% of the water wells are domestic/livestock wells. However, unreasonable impacts to
these wells are NOT a criterion when granting or denying a permit.
This bill adds language that requires a GCD to give exempt wells consideration. The bill is being sponsored in the Senate by Senator Lois Kolkhorst.
Most of the large-scale projects exporting groundwater in the Lost Pines, Post Oak Savannah, and Brazos Valley GCDs are located near county lines. The drawdown from these projects extends well beyond GCD borders. This bill provides the legal foundation for GCDs to create a “joint” mitigation fund to address impacts that extend beyond the county line.
The most traumatic part of Vista Ridge coming online was the sudden and unexpected drawdown in Carrizo wells for hundreds of residents in Lee County. County officials and citizens were not fully aware of the project and were caught off-guard. This bill addresses the need for all neighboring counties and GCDs to be notified of an export permit application. Notification allows the county, landowners, or municipalities to comment or contest the permit, or bottom-line to be better prepared for impending impacts.
[Editor’s Note: As with all things he does, Andy’s comments on these bills in the Senate and House will be based on meticulous groundwork and preparation. And he has worked hard on having a positive working relationship with Sen. Perry’s, Sen. Kolkhorst’s, and Rep. Gerdes’ offices, and with Senators Perry and Kolkhorst, and Representative Gerdes themselves. If asked, I believe Sen. Perry and Sen. Kolkhorst (Senate WARA) and Rep. Gerdes (HNRC) and their staffs would credit Andy with being an important contributor, if not the instigator, for these legislative advances in
enlightened groundwater management and protection. Contact Andy at 512-545-4779 or V/T at 512-426-5002, or at awier.tx@gmail.com with any questions. Also, SAWDF supporters owe a debt of gratitude to landowners in the Lost Pines GCD and elsewhere who continue to contribute to the success of groundwater legislation that benefits us all. We will pay tribute more personally to them as we progress through this legislative session.]
Thank you for your support!
