Panhandle Water News, July 2017 Page: Front Cover
20 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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"CNSERVING WATER FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
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tittrTexas 85th Legislature Recap
The Texas 85th Legislature Regular Session adjourned May 29, 2017. General Manager C.E.
Williams and staff member Peter Winegeart spent a majority of their time in Austin over the past several
months tracking many bills relating to groundwater conservation districts.
For most of the session, focus
seemed to drift toward social issues,
rather than environmental issues,
including water. With an interrupted
focus, it seems little was accomplished
this session. Not only was the focus on
the bigger picture of national issues like
abortion and the controversial V
"bathroom bill", but legislators were
also discussing Texas' government
system. Currently Texas operates with _
more local than statewide control. Some
legislators expressed concern with cities
and other entities becoming too
restrictive, which made for discussion
about gaining that control at the PGCD General Manager, C.E. Pilliams, addressing the
Capitol. House Natural Resources Committee.
Mid-session, Williams and
Winegeart were tracking over 50 bills relating to groundwater conservation districts, with a few drawing
more interest than others. As session drew to a close, many of those bills died for one reason or another.
Williams noted that the legislative system is intentionally designed to be much harder to kill a bill than
pass one. Below are a few bills passed that caught the interest of the District.
Noteworthy Bills Passed:
,SB 1511, Effective September
>7 1, 2017 - Introduced by Senator
Perry, the bill relates to the state and
regional water planning process and
also the funding of projects included
in the state water plan.
* HB 3735, Effective September
1, 2017 - Relates to applications for
new or amended water rights
submitted to the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality.
* SB 864, Effective Immediately
- Relates to the procedure for
obtaining a right to use state surface
water if the applicant proposes an
alternative source of water that is not
state regulated surface water.
Governor Abbott announced a special session beginning on July 18, but environmental issues
were not on the agenda. To view all bills filed in the 85th session, visit www.capitol.state.tx.us.
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Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District. Panhandle Water News, July 2017, periodical, July 2017; White Deer, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1032300/m1/1/: accessed June 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.