Senate committee advances multiple water bills; lengthy debate on private‑property CCN changes

The Committee on Water, Agriculture & Rural Affairs met in public session and advanced a package of bills touching groundwater management, flood‑mitigation funding, municipal water‑loss reporting, financing tools for large water projects and utility service‑area rules. The hearing included extended public and invited testimony on Senate Bill 14 13, which would expand the counties in which landowners can petition the Public Utility Commission to remove property from a utility certificate of convenience and necessity (CCN). Several other bills were left pending for later votes.

Why it matters: The panel’s actions affect when and how residents are notified about water contamination, which projects qualify for flood‑infrastructure funding, how large systems document and correct water loss, and whether landowners trapped in legacy CCNs can seek relief. Those items have implications for rural and urban growth, utility investments and water availability across multiple Texas regions.

Key discussion: CCN decertification (Senate Bill 14 13)

Senator Charles Nichols, the bill’s author, framed SB 14 13 as primarily a private‑property issue, saying, “To me, this bill is more of a private property rights issue than it is a water or wastewater issue, and it is supported by the cattle raisers and the farm bureau both.” Nichols walked committee members through the bill’s history, noting a 2011 law that created an expedited process for some counties and arguing the state should add counties that have since grown.

Developers and landowner advocates testified in favor. Tyler Leonard, an attorney for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, said the bill “allows landowners to get out of a CCN that is not serving their property without being held hostage for payment, subpar service, or no service at all.” Multiple builders described projects that were delayed or terminated after CCN holders declined to provide capacity or asked developers to fund and donate infrastructure.

Utilities and rural water providers opposed expanding the expedited release. Brian McManus, general manager of East Rondo Water Supply Corporation, warned that expanding the statute statewide would “undermine community investments in infrastructure” and could chill borrowing for projects that require long lead times and…