Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Watermaster Program
Katherine Bricken Texas A&M University April 25th 2017 Texas Droughts Why is Texas so Drought Prone? Number of Texas Drought Years Between 1892 and 1992 ▶ Low Rolling Plains - 8 years ▶ East Texas - 10 years ▶ High Plains - 10 years ▶ North Central - 12 years ▶ Upper Coast - 13 years ▶ South Central - 15 years ▶ Southern - 15 years ▶ Trans-Pecos - 16 years ▶ Lower Rio Grande Valley - 17 years ▶ Edwards Plateau - 17 years Does Texas Have Enough Water to Support Another Major Drought? How Does Texas Allocate the Waters of the State? Water Rights in Texas
▶ Prior Appropriations Doctrine
▶ Beneficial Use Doctrine
▶ Priority Call Texas Commission on Environmental Quality ▶2001
▶State environmental agency
▶Governs and administers all surface water rights
▶Oversees the Watermaster program What is a
Watermaster? Texas Watermaster Responsibilities ▶Protect adjudicated rights ▶Regulate unnecessary or unlawful waste, diversions, and/or storage ▶Enforce compliance by monitoring stream flows, reservoir levels, and use ▶Inform holders as needed about water availability ▶Respond to complaints ▶Oversee where a diversion would remove water that rightfully belongs to another Watermaster Program Staff
▶ Watermaster ▶ Staff of State Deputies ▶ Advisory Committee Diversions
▶ Any and all diversions must be approved and recorded ▶ Diversion plan must indicate the exact time, amount, and purpose ▶If resources are available and within permit, then the diversion will be authorized Basin Program Creation Means
▶The TCEQ decides to divide the state into water divisions. ▶A petition for a Watermaster Program is signed by twenty-five water rights holders ▶The Texas State Legislature passes a statue for the viewed necessary creation Legislative
Authority Texas Water Code §§ 11.325-.3261 ▶Delegates the legal right to oversee physical water right compliance through: ▶ Monitoring stream flows ▶ Regulating reservoir levels and water use ▶ Metering and coordinating water diversions ▶Water rights holders must pay the TCEQ for their basin’s Watermaster operations and expenses The State of Texas v. Hidalgo County Water Control & Improvement District of 1969
▶“Valley Water Case” ▶1956 ▶Initiated the Watermaster process ▶Stopped 40 water districts with 650 corporations and individuals from diverting water ▶Ensured sufficient water supply for domestic use Valmont Plantations v. State
▶Landowners along the Rio Grande did not have riparian water rights ▶1963 - The Valley Water Case came to trial before Judge J.H. Starley ▶Ruled in 1966 that river waters would be divided according to a set of weighted priorities ▶Ruling was upheld by the Texas Supreme Court in 1970 Water Rights Adjudication Act of 1967 Sections 11.325-.333
▶Granted the first state watermaster the power to: ▶Physically supervise water distribution ▶Assure adjudicated water rights holders that rights are enforced and protected The Sunset Bill
▶Readdressed the role of The Watermaster Program ▶Amended the Adjudication Act ▶Requires TCEQ to evaluate river basins in which no watermaster has been appointed to at least once every 5 years Current Operations The Rio Grande Watermaster Program
▶Established by ▶Valley Water case ▶TCEQ - Middle and Upper Rio Grande adjudications ▶International treaty ▶Manages from Fort Quitman to the Gulf of Mexico ▶Middle and Lower Rio Grande are served by the Falcon-Amistad reservoir system ▶Water below Lake Amistad is allocated on a changing account basis The South Texas Watermaster Program ▶Implemented in 1988: ▶Colorado, Guadalupe, San Antonio, and Nueces rivers ▶Lavaca and Navidad rivers were added by petition ▶Encompasses 50 counties and seven river basins ▶Guadalupe, Lavaca, Lavaca Guadalupe Coastal, Nueces, Nueces – Rio Grande Coastal, San Antonio, and San Antonio – Nueces Coastal basins ▶Includes five field deputies that patrol water diversion The Concho River Watermaster Program
▶ Established by the 79th Texas Legislature in 2005 through the House Bill 2815 ▶ Comprised of eight counties in West Texas ▶ Irion, Runnels, Sterling, Coke, Reagan, Tom Green, Schleicher, and Concho County covering the Concho watershed of the Colorado Basin. ▶ Centered in San Angelo in Tom Green County The Brazos Watermaster Program ▶ Established on April 21, 2014 by petition of 37 water holders and subsequent TCEQ hearing ruling ▶ First to be established after Sunset Bill Evaluation ▶ Has authority over the Lower Brazos River Basin ▶ Five deputies patrol and manage the basin ▶ Three main offices in Stephenville, Waco and Angleton Rise of Importance Watermaster Program Alternatives Controversy Conclusion Questions?