SECTION 288.4. Water Conservation Plans for Agricultural Use

(a) A water conservation plan for agricultural use of water must provide information in response to the following subsections. If the plan does not provide information for each requirement, the agricultural water user must include in the plan an explanation of why the requirement is not applicable.

(1) For an individual agricultural user other than irrigation:

(A) a description of the use of the water in the production process, including how the water is diverted and transported from the source(s) of supply, how the water is utilized in the production process, and the estimated quantity of water consumed in the production process and therefore unavailable for reuse, discharge, or other means of disposal;

(B) specific, quantified five-year and ten-year targets for water savings and the basis for the development of such goals. The goals established by agricultural water users under this subparagraph are not enforceable;

(C) a description of the device(s) and/or method(s) within an accuracy of plus or minus 5.0% to be used in order to measure and account for the amount of water diverted from the source of supply;

(D) leak-detection, repair, and accounting for water loss in the water distribution system;

(E) application of state-of-the-art equipment and/or process modifications to improve water use efficiency; and

(F) any other water conservation practice, method, or technique which the user shows to be appropriate for achieving the stated goal or goals of the water conservation plan.

(2) For an individual irrigation user:

(A) a description of the irrigation production process which shall include, but is not limited to, the type of crops and acreage of each crop to be irrigated, monthly irrigation diversions, any seasonal or annual crop rotation, and soil types of the land to be irrigated;

(B) a description of the irrigation method, or system, and equipment including pumps, flow rates, plans, and/or sketches of the system layout;

(C) a description of the device(s) and/or methods, within an accuracy of plus or minus 5.0%, to be used in order to measure and account for the amount of water diverted from the source of supply;

(D) specific, quantified five-year and ten-year targets for water savings including, where appropriate, quantitative goals for irrigation water use efficiency and a pollution abatement and prevention plan. The goals established by an individual irrigation water user under this subparagraph are not enforceable;

(E) water-conserving irrigation equipment and application system or method including, but not limited to, surge irrigation, low pressure sprinkler, drip irrigation, and nonleaking pipe;

(F) leak-detection, repair, and water-loss control;

(G) scheduling the timing and/or measuring the amount of water applied (for example, soil moisture monitoring);

(H) land improvements for retaining or reducing runoff, and increasing the infiltration of rain and irrigation water including, but not limited to, land leveling, furrow diking, terracing, and weed control;

(I) tailwater recovery and reuse; and

(J) any other water conservation practice, method, or technique which the user shows to be appropriate for preventing waste and achieving conservation.

(3) For a system providing agricultural water to more than one user:

(A) a system inventory for the supplier's:

(i) structural facilities including the supplier's water storage, conveyance, and delivery structures;

(ii) management practices, including the supplier's operating rules and regulations, water pricing policy, and a description of practices and/or devices used to account for water deliveries; and

(iii) a user profile including square miles of the service area, the number of customers taking delivery of water by the system, the types of crops, the types of irrigation systems, the types of drainage systems, and total acreage under irrigation, both historical and projected;

(B) specific, quantified five-year and ten-year targets for water savings including maximum allowable losses for the storage and distribution system. The goals established by a system providing agricultural water to more than one user under this subparagraph are not enforceable;

(C) a description of the practice(s) and/or device(s) which will be utilized to measure and account for the amount of water diverted from the source(s) of supply;

(D) a monitoring and record management program of water deliveries, sales, and losses;

(E) a leak-detection, repair, and water loss control program;

(F) a program to assist customers in the development of on-farm water conservation and pollution prevention plans and/or measures;

(G) a requirement in every wholesale water supply contract entered into or renewed after official adoption of the plan (by either ordinance, resolution, or tariff), and including any contract extension, that each successive wholesale customer develop and implement a water conservation plan or water conservation measures using the applicable elements in this chapter. If the customer intends to resell the water, the contract between the initial supplier and customer must provide that the contract for the resale of the water must have water conservation requirements so that each successive customer in the resale of the water will be required to implement water conservation measures in accordance with applicable provisions of this chapter;

(H) official adoption of the water conservation plan and goals, by ordinance, rule, resolution, or tariff, indicating that the plan reflects official policy of the supplier;

(I) any other water conservation practice, method, or technique which the supplier shows to be appropriate for achieving conservation; and

(J) documentation of coordination with the regional water planning groups, in order to ensure consistency with appropriate approved regional water plans.

(b) A water conservation plan prepared in accordance with the rules of the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service, the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, or other federal or state agency and substantially meeting the requirements of this section and other applicable commission rules may be submitted to meet application requirements in accordance with a memorandum of understanding between the commission and that agency.

(c) An agricultural water user shall review and update its water conservation plan, as appropriate, based on an assessment of previous five-year and ten-year targets and any other new or updated information. An agricultural water user shall review and update the next revision of its water conservation plan every five years to coincide with the regional water planning group.

Source Note: The provisions of this §288.4 adopted to be effective May 3, 1993, 18 TexReg 2558; amended to be effective February 21, 1999, 24 TexReg 949; amended to be effective April 27, 2000, 25 TexReg 3544; amended to be effective August 15, 2002, 27 TexReg 7146; amended to be effective October 7, 2004, 29 TexReg 9384; amended to be effective December 6, 2012, 37 TexReg 9515