(a) The State Board shall establish a process for providing assistance, to applicants submitting project proposals, in locating a person with expertise in hydrology, water resources, or another technical area pertinent to the evaluation of water supply to conduct a feasibility study for a project using a water yield model as described by §517.25(b) of this subchapter.
(b) The State Board may:
  (1) dedicate a portion of the money appropriated to the State Board, that it considers appropriate, to fund part or all of a feasibility study under this section; and
  (2) establish procedures to distribute the money under paragraph (1) of this subsection.
(c) To receive funding for a feasibility study under subsection (b) of this section, a person must submit to the State Board an application for funding that includes a statement of the project's anticipated impact on water resources.
(d) Applications for funding a feasibility study under subsection (b) of this section will be referred to a Science Advisory Committee, established by the State Board, for review. The Science Advisory Committee will review the applications and make recommendations to the State Board on which applications should receive funding.
  (1) In reviewing the applications and formulating recommendations, the Science Advisory Committee will consider science-oriented questions described in the State Water Supply Enhancement Plan.
  (2) In formulating recommendations for funding to the State Board, State Board staff will consider recommendations from the Science Advisory Committee and programmatic- and policy-oriented questions described in the State Water Supply Enhancement Plan.

Source Note: The provisions of this §517.26 adopted to be effective February 13, 2003, 28 TexReg 1209; amended to be effective March 21, 2004, 29 TexReg 2651; amended to be effective April 16, 2012, 37 TexReg 2679; amended to be effective September 8, 2014, 39 TexReg 7173