County commissioners courts must appoint temporary directors for certain districts, and the commission must apportion some appointments and develop groundwater-use estimates when the district spans multiple counties.
Sec. 36.0161. METHOD FOR APPOINTING TEMPORARY DIRECTORS FOR DISTRICT IN PRIORITY GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT AREA. (a) If a district in a priority groundwater management area is: (1) contained within one county, the county commissioners court of that county shall appoint five temporary directors for the district; (2) contained within two counties, the county commissioners court of each county shall appoint at least one temporary director, with the appointments of the three remaining directors to be apportioned as provided by Subsection (b); (3) contained within three counties, the county commissioners court of each county shall appoint at least one temporary director, with the appointments of the two remaining directors to be apportioned as provided by Subsection (b); (4) contained within four counties, the county commissioners court of each county shall appoint at least one temporary director, with the appointment of the remaining director to be apportioned as provided by Subsection (b); or (5) contained within five or more counties, the county commissioners court of each county shall appoint one temporary director. (b)(1) In this subsection, "estimated groundwater use" means the estimate of groundwater use in acre-feet developed by the commission under Subsection (c) for the area of a county that is within the district. (2) The apportionment of appointments under Subsection (a) shall be made by the commission so as to reflect, as closely as possible, the proportion each county's estimated groundwater use bears to the sum of the estimated groundwater use for the district as determined under Subsection (c). The commission shall by rule determine the method it will use to implement this subdivision. (c) If a district for which temporary directors are to be appointed is contained within two, three, or four counties, the commission shall develop an estimate of annual groundwater use in acre-feet for each county area within the district. Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1010, Sec. 4.26, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.