Texas Water Code - WATER § 11.1471. Environmental Flow Standards and Set-Asides

(a) The commission by rule shall:

(b) In adopting environmental flow standards for a river basin and bay system under Subsection (a)(1), the commission shall consider:

(c) Environmental flow standards adopted under Subsection (a)(1) must consist of a schedule of flow quantities, reflecting seasonal and yearly fluctuations that may vary geographically by specific location in a river basin and bay system.

(d) As provided by Section 11.023, the commission may not issue a permit for a new appropriation or an amendment to an existing water right that increases the amount of water authorized to be stored, taken, or diverted if the issuance of the permit or amendment would impair an environmental flow set-aside established under Subsection (a)(2).  A permit for a new appropriation or an amendment to an existing water right that increases the amount of water authorized to be stored, taken, or diverted that is issued after the adoption of an applicable environmental flow set-aside must contain appropriate conditions to ensure protection of the environmental flow set-aside.

(e) An environmental flow set-aside established under Subsection (a)(2) for a river basin and bay system other than the middle and lower Rio Grande must be assigned a priority date corresponding to the date the commission receives environmental flow regime recommendations from the applicable basin and bay expert science team and be included in the appropriate water availability models in connection with an application for a permit for a new appropriation or for an amendment to an existing water right that increases the amount of water authorized to be stored, taken, or diverted.

(f) An environmental flow standard or environmental flow set-aside adopted under Subsection (a) may be altered by the commission in a rulemaking process undertaken in accordance with a schedule established by the commission.  In establishing a schedule, the commission shall consider the applicable work plan approved by the advisory group under Section 11.02362(p).  The commission's schedule may not provide for the rulemaking process to occur more frequently than once every 10 years unless the work plan provides for a periodic review under Section 11.02362(p) to occur more frequently than once every 10 years.  In that event, the commission may provide for the rulemaking process to be undertaken in conjunction with the periodic review if the commission determines that schedule to be appropriate.  A rulemaking process undertaken under this subsection must provide for the participation of stakeholders having interests in the particular river basin and bay system for which the process is undertaken.