Sec. 11.158.  AMENDMENT TO CONVERT USE FROM RESERVOIR STORAGE TO AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY.  (a)  In this section, "aquifer storage and recovery project" has the meaning assigned by Section 27.151.
(b)  A holder of a water right that authorizes the storage of water for a beneficial use in a reservoir that has not been constructed may file an application to amend the water right to remove the authorization for storage in a reservoir provided that the water diverted under the right will be stored in an aquifer storage and recovery project authorized under Section 27.153 for later retrieval and use as authorized by the original water right.
(c)  An application for an amendment to a water right described by Subsection (b) may request an increase in the amount of water that may be diverted or the rate of diversion on the basis of an evaporation credit that takes into account the amount of water that would have evaporated if the storage reservoir had been constructed.
(d)  A holder of a water right authorizing an appropriation of water for storage in a storage reservoir that has lost storage because of sedimentation, as determined by a survey performed by the board, may file an application for an amendment to the water right to change the use or purpose for which the appropriation is to be made from storage by diversion to storage as part of an aquifer storage and recovery project for later retrieval and use as authorized by the original water right in an amount equal to all or part of the amount of water yield lost to sedimentation.
(e)  An application for an amendment to a water right described by Subsection (b) is exempt from any notice and hearing requirements of a statute, commission rule, or permit condition and may not be referred to the State Office of Administrative Hearings for a contested case hearing if the requested change will not cause a negative effect on other water rights holders or the environment that is greater than the effect that the original permit would have had were the permit rights exercised to the full extent of the original permit.
(f)  An application for an amendment to a water right described by Subsection (c) or (d) is subject to the notice and hearing requirements of this chapter.
(g)  If the commission grants an application for an amendment to a water right described by Subsection (c) or (d), the commission shall include in the amendment any special conditions the commission considers necessary to:
(1)  protect existing water rights; and
(2)  comply with any applicable requirements established under Section 11.147 or 11.1471.
(h)  The commission may adopt rules providing an expedited procedure for acting on an application for an amendment to a water right described by Subsection (b) and the procedures to file and act on an application for an amendment to a water right described by Subsection (c) or (d).
Added by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 742 (H.B. 720), Sec. 2, eff. June 10, 2019.