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Senate panel hears bill to let local sponsors divert reservoir water for timely dam repairs
Summary
Senate Bill 43 would allow qualified local sponsors to use a permit exemption to divert up to 200 acre-feet from reservoirs for maintenance, repair or limited construction tied to erosion and sediment control; supporters said long permitting delays have hampered timely dam rehabilitation.
Senate Bill 43 would create a narrow permit exemption that lets a qualified local sponsor — typically a local conservation or water district — temporarily divert water from a storage facility and use up to 200 acre-feet to support repair, maintenance and erosion-control work on flood-control dams.
The bill’s proponents told the Senate select committee that Texas has thousands of earthen flood-control dams, many built in the 1950s and 1960s, and that long permitting timelines have delayed critical repairs.
Daniel Meyer, executive manager of the Plum Creek Conservation District, said…
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