Senate Bill 1, passed by the 75th Legislature of the State of Texas, is the most encompassing piece of water legislation ever written. This bill was developed primarily in response to the state-wide droughts of 1996, but also to foster the practice of comprehensive planning for the use and development of water resources in Texas. Simply put, Senate Bill 1 requires that a plan be developed to account for the supply and demand for water in the entire state. This plan is to apply to all water user groups within the state and is to cover a 50 year time period from the year 2000 to the year 2050. Senate Bill 1 also requires that the plan be updated on a five-year cycle, beginning in 2005. To accomplish the task of developing a water plan for the entire state, the Legislature chose a unique approach by requiring that plans first be developed on a regional basis, with the regional plans being compiled into a single State Water Plan after completion. The Initially Prepare Plan (IPP) is listed and available for your use on this web site under the download menu bar on the home page. This IPP is a draft of the regional plan that projects water supply, use and demand until the year 2060.
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) is the state agency charged with overseeing the development of the regional plans and with assembling the regional plans into the State Water Plan. The TWDB, with input from local residents and entities, has divided the state into 16 water planning regions (Water Planning Areas). Each planning region has a volunteer body of area citizens (Regional Water Planning Groups) which serve as the agency in charge of developing the water plan for that particular region. These groups are comprised of a minimum of eleven members, who represent eleven statutorily defined "interest groups". These interest groups are:
- Public
- Municipalities
- Counties
- Industry
- Agricultural
- Environmental
- Small Business
- Electric Generating Utility
- Water Districts
- River Authorities
- Water Utilities.
The Regional Water Planning Groups must at all time remain representative of the interests above and also have the ability to add representatives as necessary to ensure adequate representation of both the interests above and any other interests specific to the region.
In their simplest terms, the regional and state plans are supply and demand assessments. For each water use group identified by the TWDB, the Regional Water Planning Groups must compare available and projected supplies of water with current and projected demands which will be placed on the supplies. Where deficiencies or shortages of supply versus needs are identified, the regional plans must identify a strategy(s) to resolve the deficiency. The plans must also provide strategies for dealing with droughts of record. As mentioned above, this must be done for a 50 year time period. In addition to conducting the supply and demand assessments, the regional water plans must also consider certain other elements. Among these are the cost, quantity, and reliability of water delivered, environmental concerns, economic considerations, third party impacts, impacts on other water resources, potential for interbasin transfers of water, identification of ecologically unique streams and rivers, potential reservoir sites, and possible legislative or policy recommendations. Each regional planning group is also responsible for developing a description of their region, including demographic and water needs data. Development of these plans is an open and public process. Input is essential and your participation is encouraged. Each Regional Planning Group will be conducting public hearings on their planning process as well as providing opportunities for public input.
The timetable for the implementation of Senate Bill 1 & 2 water planning is quite aggressive. At this time, all sixteen regional plans must be completed by January 5, 2006. The TWDB has until January 5, 2007 to compile the regional plans into a new single, State Water Plan. As water, and its abundance or shortage, is an issue that will affect everyone, your interest and participation in the water planning process is essential. Should you have any questions or comments regarding the process, please do not hesitate to contact your Regional Water Planning Group or the Texas Water Development Board. This website contains links and contact information for both the Water Planning Group for the Texas Panhandle and the TWDB. If you have any comments that you would like to have considered in the current regional plan, please contact Chris Coffman at 806-372-3381 by October 10, 2005.