Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1969 )

EZNE‘II GENERAL OF-XAS Honorable John Allen Opinion No. M-351 Chairman, Conservation and Reclamation Committee, Re: House Bill No. 176, 61st House of Representatives Legislature, amending State Capitol Building Article 7468, Revised Austin, Texas 78711 Civil Statutes of Texas, 1925; effect on fifty- year protection clause Dear Mr. Allen: in the Constitution. As Chairman of the Coneervatlon and Reclamation Com- mittee you have submitted to us House Bill No. 176, and asked our opinion as to whether or not its effect will be to supersede the existlng'flfty-year protection clause set out in Section 49(d) of Article III of the Constitution of Texas. This constitutional provision was adopted November 6, 1962, and as amended November 8, 1966, regulates the acqui- sition and development of water storage facilities, flltra- tion, treatment and transportation of water, atd enlargement of reservoirs. The pertinent proviso reads: ....provlded. however, the Texas Water Development Fund or any other state fund provided for water development, transmission, transfer or filtration shall not be used to finance any pro- ject which contemplates or results In the removal from the basin of origin of any surface water necessary to supply the reasonable foreseeable future water requirements for the next ensuing fifty-year period within the rixer basis of origin, except on a temporary, interim basis. House Bill No, 176 amends present Article 7468, Re- vised Civil Statutes of Texas, 1925, by adding thereto the words 'or for any other beneficial use." Article 7468 pro- vides the purposes for which water may be stored. You have advised that the words "beneficial use" re- sulted in some concern among members of the House as to whether or not the Water Development Board could transfer -1Y42- Hon. John Allen, page 2(M-351) water from East Texas basins to other basins and thus cir- cumvent the fifty-year protection clause in the Constltu- tion. It is the opinion of this office that the mere addi- tion of the words 'or for any other beneficial use" could not legally be used to violate or circumvent the fifty-year period restriction written into the Constitution of Texas by Section 49(d) of Article III. Furthermore, we have been assured by counsel for the Texas Water Development Board that there is no intent on the part of the Texas Water Development Board to use this lan- guage as an overriding construction of the constitutional fifty-year restriction. SUMMARY Amendment to Article 7468, Revised Civil Sta- tutes of Texas, by House Bill No. 176 by add- ing,,thewords, "or for any other beneficial does not override the fifty-year protec- F&'clause In Article III, Section 49(d) of the Constitution of Texas. rney General of Texas Prepared by Vlnce Taylor Assistant Attorney Qeneral APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE Kerns Taylor, Chairman George Kelton, Vice-Chairman John Grace Fisher A. Tyler Roland Allen Houghton Brownlee W. V. Geppart Staff Legal Assistant -1743-