2005 Texas Special Districts Code CHAPTER 8810. CENTRAL TEXAS GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT

SPECIAL DISTRICT LOCAL LAWS CODE

CHAPTER 8810. CENTRAL TEXAS GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT

SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS


	§ 8810.001. DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:                                  
		(1)  "Board" means the board of directors of the 
district.                  
		(2)  "Director" means a member of the board.                                  
		(3)  "District" means the Central Texas Groundwater 
Conservation District.  

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.002. NATURE OF DISTRICT.  The district is a 
groundwater conservation district in Burnet County created under 
and essential to accomplish the purposes of Section 59, Article 
XVI, Texas Constitution.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.003. CONFIRMATION ELECTION REQUIRED.  If the 
creation of the district is not confirmed at a confirmation 
election held before September 1, 2007:
		(1)  the district is dissolved on September 1, 2007, 
except that:           
			(A)  any debts incurred shall be paid;                                       
			(B)  any assets that remain after the payment of 
debts shall be transferred to Burnet County;  and
			(C)  the organization of the district shall be 
maintained until all debts are paid and remaining assets are 
transferred;  and
		(2)  this chapter expires on September 1, 2010.                               

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.004. INITIAL DISTRICT TERRITORY.  The initial 
boundaries of the district are coextensive with the boundaries of 
Burnet County, Texas.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.005. CONSTRUCTION OF CHAPTER.  This chapter shall 
be liberally construed to achieve the legislative intent and 
purposes of Chapter 36, Water Code.  A power granted by Chapter 36, 
Water Code, or this chapter shall be broadly interpreted to achieve 
that intent and those purposes.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.006. APPLICABILITY OF OTHER GROUNDWATER 
CONSERVATION DISTRICT LAW.  Except as otherwise provided by this 
chapter, Chapter 36, Water Code, applies to the district.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           

SUBCHAPTER A-1. TEMPORARY PROVISIONS


	§ 8810.021. APPOINTMENT OF TEMPORARY DIRECTORS.                             

Text of section effective until September 1, 2010
	(a)  Not later than the 45th day after the effective date of 
this chapter, five temporary directors shall be appointed as 
follows:
		(1)  the Burnet County Commissioners Court shall 
appoint one temporary director from each of the four commissioners 
precincts in the county to represent the precincts in which the 
temporary directors reside;  and
		(2)  the county judge of Burnet County shall appoint 
one temporary director who resides in the district to represent the 
district at large.
	(b)  If there is a vacancy on the temporary board of 
directors of the district, the authority who appointed the 
temporary director whose position is vacant shall appoint a person 
to fill the vacancy.
	(c)  Temporary directors serve until the earlier of:                           
		(1)  the time the temporary directors become initial 
directors as provided by Section 8810.024;  or
		(2)  the date this chapter expires under Section 
8810.003.                  

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.022. ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING OF TEMPORARY 
DIRECTORS.                

Text of section effective until September 1, 2010
	As soon as practicable after all the temporary directors have 
qualified under Section 36.055, Water Code, a majority of the 
temporary directors shall convene the organizational meeting of the 
district at a location within the district agreeable to a majority 
of the directors.  If an agreement on location cannot be reached, 
the organizational meeting shall be at the Burnet County 
Courthouse.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.023. CONFIRMATION ELECTION.                                          

Text of section effective until September 1, 2010
	(a)  The temporary directors shall hold an election to 
confirm the creation of the district.
	(b)  Section 41.001(a), Election Code, does not apply to a 
confirmation election held as provided by this section.
	(c)  Except as provided by this section, a confirmation 
election must be conducted as provided by Sections 36.017(b)-(i), 
Water Code, and the Election Code.  Section 36.017(d), Water Code, 
does not apply to a confirmation election under this section.
	(d)  The ballot for the election must be printed to provide 
for voting for or against the proposition:  "The creation of the 
Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District and the imposition 
of a maintenance tax at an initial rate not to exceed two cents for 
each $100 of assessed valuation."
	(e)  If a majority of the votes cast at the election are not 
in favor of the creation of the district, the temporary directors 
may call and hold a subsequent confirmation election.  The 
subsequent election may not be held before the first anniversary of 
the date on which the previous election was held.
	(f)  The district may not impose a maintenance tax unless the 
tax is confirmed under this section.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.024. INITIAL DIRECTORS.                                              

Text of section effective until September 1, 2010
	(a)  If creation of the district is confirmed at an election 
held under Section 8810.023, the temporary directors of the 
district become the initial directors of the district and serve on 
the board of directors until permanent directors are elected under 
Section 8810.025.
	(b)  The initial directors representing commissioners 
precincts 2 and 4 shall serve a term expiring June 1 following the 
first regularly scheduled election of directors under Section 
8810.025, and the initial directors representing commissioners 
precincts 1 and 3 shall serve a term expiring June 1 following the 
second regularly scheduled election of directors.  The at-large 
director shall serve a term expiring June 1 following the second 
regularly scheduled election of directors.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.025. INITIAL ELECTION OF PERMANENT DIRECTORS.                        

Text of section effective until September 1, 2010
	On the uniform election date prescribed by Section 41.001, 
Election Code, in May of the first even-numbered year after the year 
in which the district is authorized to be created at a confirmation 
election, an election shall be held in the district for the election 
of two directors to replace the initial directors who, under 
Section 8810.024(b), serve a term expiring June 1 following that 
election.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.026. EXPIRATION OF SUBCHAPTER.                                       

Text of section effective until September 1, 2010
	This subchapter expires September 1, 2010.                                     

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           

SUBCHAPTER B. BOARD OF DIRECTORS


	§ 8810.051. DIRECTORS;  TERMS.  (a) The district is 
governed by a board of five directors.
	(b)  Directors serve staggered four-year terms, with two or 
three directors' terms expiring June 1 of each even-numbered year.
	(c)  A director may serve consecutive terms.                                   

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.052. METHOD OF ELECTING DIRECTORS:  COMMISSIONERS 
PRECINCTS.  (a) The directors of the district shall be elected 
according to the commissioners precinct method as provided by this 
section.
	(b)  One director shall be elected by the voters of the 
entire district, and one director shall be elected from each county 
commissioners precinct by the voters of that precinct.
	(c)  Except as provided by Subsection (e), to be eligible to 
be a candidate for or to serve as director at large, a person must be 
a registered voter in the district.  To be a candidate for or to 
serve as director from a county commissioners precinct, a person 
must be a registered voter of that precinct.
	(d)  A person shall indicate on the application for a place 
on the ballot:   
		(1)  the precinct that the person seeks to represent;  
or                   
		(2)  that the person seeks to represent the district at 
large.              
	(e)  When the boundaries of the county commissioners 
precincts are redrawn after each federal decennial census to 
reflect population changes, a director in office on the effective 
date of the change, or a director elected or appointed before the 
effective date of the change whose term of office begins on or after 
the effective date of the change, shall serve in the precinct to 
which elected or appointed even though the change in boundaries 
places the person's residence outside the precinct for which the 
person was elected or appointed.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.053. ELECTION DATE.  The district shall hold an 
election to elect the appropriate number of directors on the 
uniform election date prescribed by Section 41.001, Election Code, 
in May of each even-numbered year.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.054. DIVISION OF MUNICIPALITY.  The provision in 
Section 36.059(b), Water Code, concerning the division of a 
municipal corporation among precincts does not apply to an election 
under this chapter.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           

SUBCHAPTER C. POWERS AND DUTIES


	§ 8810.101. PERMIT CONSIDERATION.  Before granting or 
denying a permit under Section 36.113, Water Code, the district 
shall consider if the proposed use of water unreasonably affects 
surrounding landowners.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.102. PERMITS FOR CERTAIN ACTIVITIES;  APPLICABLE 
RULES.  (a)  The district may require a permit for any activity that 
extracts groundwater or allows more than 25,000 gallons of 
groundwater a day to escape.
	(b)  If a permit is required under Subsection (a), the permit 
holder is subject to rules adopted by the district to:
		(1)  conserve, preserve, protect, and recharge the 
groundwater or a groundwater reservoir or its subdivisions to 
control subsidence, prevent degradation of groundwater quality, 
and prevent waste of groundwater;  and
		(2)  carry out any other power or duty under Chapter 36, 
Water Code.        
	(c)  To the extent of a conflict, this section controls over 
Section 36.117(b), Water Code.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.103. IMPACT OF TRANSFER.  (a) If the district 
finds that a transfer of groundwater out of the district negatively 
impacts any of the factors described by Section 36.122(f), Water 
Code, the district may impose additional requirements or 
limitations on the permit that are designed to minimize those 
impacts.
	(b)  Sections 36.122(c), (e), (i), and (j), Water Code, do 
not apply to a requirement or limitation imposed under this 
section.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.104. CONTRACTS WITH OTHER GOVERNMENTAL 
ENTITIES.  The district and another governmental entity, including 
a river authority located in the district, may enter into a contract 
for the performance by that entity of a district function.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.105. REVENUE.  (a) To pay the maintenance and 
operating costs of the district and to pay any bonds or notes issued 
by the district, the district may:
		(1)  impose ad valorem taxes at a rate not to exceed 
five cents on each $100 of assessed valuation of taxable property;
		(2)  assess fees for services or for water withdrawn 
from nonexempt wells;  or
		(3)  solicit and accept grants from any private or 
public source.           
	(b)  The district may not impose ad valorem taxes to pay the 
maintenance and operating costs of the district at a rate that 
exceeds the maximum rate approved by a majority of the voters of the 
district voting at an election in the district held for that 
purpose.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           


	§ 8810.106. PROHIBITION ON DISTRICT USE OF EMINENT DOMAIN 
POWERS.  The district may not exercise the power of eminent domain.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.           

SUBCHAPTER D. DISSOLUTION


	§ 8810.151. ELECTION FOR DISSOLUTION.  (a) If the 
district has no outstanding bond or other long-term indebtedness, 
the district may be dissolved by a favorable vote of a majority of 
the registered voters of the district at an election called for that 
purpose.
	(b)  The board shall call a dissolution election if the board 
receives a petition for dissolution signed by at least 50 percent of 
the registered voters in the district as computed by using the list 
of registered voters for Burnet County.
	(c)  If the district is dissolved under this section, the 
board shall:       
		(1)  notify the Texas Commission on Environmental 
Quality and the secretary of state of the dissolution;  and
		(2)  transfer title to any assets of the district to 
Burnet County.         

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 855, § 1, eff. June 17, 2005.