Sec. 8511.0302.  CONTROL AND USE OF WATERS.  (a)  The authority may exercise power over the storm water and floodwater of the Nueces River Basin.
(b)  The authority may exercise the powers of control and use of this state's water in the following manner and for the following purposes:
(1)  to provide for the control and coordination of water use in the Nueces River Basin as a unit;
(2)  to provide for the preservation of the rights of the people of the different sections of the Nueces River Basin in the beneficial use of water by adequate organization and administration;
(3)  to provide for conserving storm water, floodwater, and unappropriated flow water of the Nueces River Basin, including the storage, control, transportation, treatment, and distribution of that water, and the prevention of the escape of any of that water without the maximum of public service;
(4)  to provide for the prevention of the devastation of land from recurrent overflows;
(5)  to provide for the protection of life and property in the Nueces River Basin from uncontrolled floodwater;
(6)  to provide for the conservation of water essential for domestic and other water uses of the people of the Nueces River Basin, including all necessary water supplies for municipalities and industrial districts;
(7)  to provide for the irrigation of land in the Nueces River Basin where irrigation is required for agricultural purposes or may be considered helpful to more profitable agricultural production;
(8)  to provide for the equitable distribution of storm water, floodwater, and unappropriated flow water to meet the regional potential requirements for all uses;
(9)  to provide for the encouragement and development of drainage systems and provisions for the drainage of land in the valleys of the Nueces River and its tributary streams needing drainage for profitable agricultural and livestock production and industrial activities and the drainage of other land in the authority's watershed area requiring drainage for the most advantageous use;
(10)  to provide for the conservation of soil against destructive erosion to prevent the increased flood menace incident to erosion;
(11)  to control and make available for use storm water, floodwater, and unappropriated flow water as may be authorized by the commission in the development of commercial and industrial enterprises in all sections of the authority's watershed area;
(12)  to provide for the control, storage, and use of storm water, floodwater, and unappropriated flow water in the development and distribution of hydroelectric power, if that use may be economically coordinated with other and superior uses and subordinated to the uses declared by law to be superior; and
(13)  to provide for each purpose and use for which storm water, floodwater, and unappropriated flow water when controlled and conserved may be used in the performance of a useful service as contemplated and authorized by the provisions of the constitution and statutes.
(c)  The authority may:
(1)  control, store, and preserve the water of the Nueces River and its tributaries inside the authority's boundaries for a useful purpose;
(2)  use, distribute, and sell the water for a beneficial purpose inside and outside the authority; and
(3)  acquire water and water rights inside and outside the authority.
(d)  All plans and works provided by the authority and all works that may be provided under the authority's authorization should have primary regard to the necessity and potential needs for water by or in the respective areas constituting the watershed of the Nueces River and its tributary streams.
Added by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 914 (H.B. 3530), Sec. 1.03, eff. April 1, 2023.