SECTION 303.43. Conversion of Water Rights

The purposes of use included in municipal priority rights are domestic, municipal, and industrial. The purposes of use included in the Class A and B priority rights are irrigation and other purposes of use, excluding domestic, municipal, industrial, nonconsumptive recreation, and hydro-electric. Unless otherwise stated in a certificate of adjudication, one acre of irrigation water right in the Lower Rio Grande will be equivalent to 2.5 acre-feet of water per annum. All Class A and B priority rights in the Lower and Middle Rio Grande which have been or will be acquired for domestic, municipal, or industrial use shall be amended to authorize the change in purpose of use and converted to receive a definite quantity of water in acre-feet per annum.

(1) One acre-foot of Class A irrigation water right shall be converted to 0.5 acre-feet of water per annum for either domestic, municipal, or industrial purposes; one acre-foot of Class B irrigation water right shall be converted to 0.4 acre-feet of water per annum for either domestic, municipal, or industrial purposes.

(2) An irrigation or mining water right which has been amended and converted to a municipal priority shall be allocated water on an equal basis with stipulated domestic, municipal, and industrial water rights recognized in the final judgment rendered in the Lower Rio Grande Valley water case and the final judgment in the adjudication of water rights on the Middle Rio Grande.

Source Note: The provisions of this §303.43 adopted to be effective July 2, 1986, 11 TexReg 2890.