18-TCEQ APPLICATION FOR AMENDMENT TO WATER RIGHT

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VI. Water Conservation, Drought Contingencv, and Avoidance of Waste The City has adopted and implemented a Water Conservation and Drought Contingency Plan that has been submitted to and approved by TCEQ pursuant to the requirements of 30 TAC Chapter 288. A copy of the TCEQ letter approving the City's Water Conservation and Drought Contingency Plan is included herewith as Attachment C. These plans include provisions that allow the City to enforce conservation of supplies on customers, thereby reducing the consumption of water, and the loss or waste of water, so that a water supply is made available for future or alternative uses. As defined in both 30 TAC § 295.9 and Texas Water Code § 11.002(8), "conservation" means those practices that will "reduce the consumption of water, reduce the loss or waste of water, impYOVe the efficiency in the use of water, or increase the recycling and reuse of water so that a water supply is made available for future or alternative uses." [Emphasis Added]. Allowing the City to serve customers within Lamar County for agricultural purposes will maximize the efficient use of existing surface water supplies. Such efficiency, along with the City's water conservation and drought contingency plans, will allow the City to avoid waste and achieve water conservation in the provision of water to customers within Lamar County. VII. Impacts on Other Water Rights Holders or the On-Stream Environment A. The Full-Use Assumption The City's proposed amendment to add an agricultural purpose of use to COA 02-4940A will not have any impact on other water rights holders or the on-stream environment on Sanders Creek tributary. The City is currently authorized to divert and fully consume up to 20,000 acre- feet of water per annum for industrial use purposes within the Sulphur River Basin pursuant to COA 02-4940A, and pursuant to Texas Water Code § 11.046(c), which provides that water authorized for diversion can be "beneficially used and reused" without limit. Unless provided otherwise in a water right, there is no restriction against full consumption of water properly authorized for diversion by the state. Pursuant to the "full use assumption" of Texas Water Code § 11.122(b), the City's use of a portion of its 20,000 acre-feet of water rights for agricultural purposes within the Sulphur Basin will not cause an adverse impact on other water rights holders or the on-stream environment of a greater magnitude than if the City fully exercised its rights as currently authorized in COA 02-4940A. By employing the Water Code's "full use assumption," there is no circumstance under which downstream water rights or the environment will be harmed by the City's proposed amendment. The City does not seek to move or add a diversion point, increase the rate at which it diverts water, or increase the amount of water the City is currently authorized to divert and fully consume. The City merely asks to add an agricultural purpose of use to its existing COA 02-4940A so that the City will have the ability to provide water to customers for agricultural use within the Sulphur Basin in Lamar County. 3�52525.� 8 3 3