By Emmy Powell
Communications Specialist

Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) voiced strong support for legislation that would limit permits for groundwater export projects, preventing any single applicant from exporting more than 5% of a district’s modeled available groundwater.

TFB told members of the Texas House Committee on Natural Resources that groundwater concerns have been a longstanding issue in rural Texas.

“Our county leaders have been discussing big groundwater projects and how they may impact rural Texas for the past 20 years,” TFB Associate Director of Government Affairs Billy Howe told the committee. “The fact that these projects were going to happen in the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer has not been a secret. We have known since at least 2001 that this area was being targeted for big groundwater projects.”

Howe testified on HB 24, which seeks to create a fairer process for allocating groundwater resources and preventing excessive pumping permits that could harm neighboring landowners.

He noted that residents over the aquifer sought legislative action years ago, requesting the creation of local districts because groundwater leases were already being signed and public meetings were underway.

“It’s the reason our county leaders adopted Texas Farm Bureau policy many years ago that supports limiting groundwater exports that impact the private property rights of local landowners,” he said. “However, as you heard in the previous hearing, there are groundwater conservation districts that have chosen not to use the extensive regulatory power provided by the legislature under Chapter 36. And, most importantly, they have not adopted rules that afford every landowner their right to a fair share of a common aquifer recognized by the Texas Supreme Court in the EAA v. Day opinion.”

Howe stressed that constitutional rights should not vary by where you live.

“Property rights are property rights,” Howe said. “This is why HB 24 so important. It is clear the legislature must take steps to protect landowner’s rights to the water under their land because some local districts will not.”

The bill would help ensure fairness in groundwater management, according to TFB. “HB 24 would help ensure that groundwater conservation districts can’t permit an amount of water that is far beyond what a water marketer’s fair share should be,” he said. “It would help ensure water is reserved for other landowners so that they have an opportunity to produce or save their fair share.”

HB 24 was authored by State Rep. Cody Harris and co-authored by State Reps. Trent Ashby and Cole Hefner.

Read the entire bill here.