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The Texas Legislature meets in regular session only every other year for five months. For the last twosessions, 2001 and 2003, a set of timely water conservation legislation has been developed and presentedto the Legislature.In 2001 four bills were introduced and four passed. Probably the most significant bill was the multifamilysubmetering bill that requires submetering on all new projects along with other provisions. Alsosales tax exemptions for rainwater harvesting and reuse were passed in Senate Bill 2, a follow up bill toSenate Bill 1, the regional water planning effort in Texas.In the 2002 State Water Plan, it is projected that under drought conditions, the current shortfall of watersupplies to meet municipal, manufacturing, and agricultural needs in Texas would be approximately 2.5million acre-feet per year. The economic impact of not meeting these needs during such a drought wouldbe in the tens of billions of dollars. This shortfall is expected to increase to 7.5 million acre-feet per yearby 2050 if nothing is done to increase the currently available water supplies in the State. One of the mostcost effective strategies for meeting these needs in the 2002 Plan is the implementation of waterconservation strategies and projects throughout Texas. However, state policy on water conservation inTexas is currently fragmented and clearly does not contain sufficient focus to ensure optimal utilization ofwater conservation to meet future water supply needs. For example, there are neither state, regional, norlocal determinations of appropriate goals for water conservation to achieve the desired level of waterconservation. Furthermore, the absence of incentive programs and high profile educational and publicawareness programs limit the level of water conservation currently in place in Texas. This paper discusses an ambitious program of ten bills that were introduced in 2003, of which seven passed and included: SB 1094 - relating to the creation of a task force to evaluate matters regarding water conservation; HB 2661 - relating to the use of graywater; HB 645 - relating to prohibiting the creation or enforcement of certain restrictive covenants that underminewater conservation; HB 3338 - relating to the performance of a water audit by a retail public utility providing potable water; HB 2660 - relating to the establishment of minimum levels of water conservation in water conservation plans; HB 2663 - relating to the establishment of quantifiable goals for drought contingency plans; and, HB 1152 - relating to the authority of certain nonprofit water supply corporations and sewer servicecorporations to establish and enforce customer water conservation measures. Three bills that would have greatly increased water efficiency in Texas that did not pass were: HB 487 would have required rain shut off devices on all new irrigation systems; HB 489 would have set both water and energy standards for commercial clothes washingmachines; and, HB 488 would have set toilet performance standards to address issues related to maintaining a1.6-gallon per flush standard throughout the life of a toilet.

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Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 01/11/2004 Number of Pages: 6 File Size: 1 file , 230 KB