Committee advances bill letting water district halt pumps ahead of severe weather

Senate Bill 214, authored in the reading as by Sen. Henskins, cleared the Senate Committee on Natural Resources on March 18 after brief explanation and no questions.

Sen. Henskins told the committee the bill “gives them the protection and liability that they need to be able to shut off the pumps so that they can save more drainage to, drain for that event,” describing the measure as intended to let the Tesh Famillean Water District suspend pumping when forecasts predict large rainfall or hurricanes so drainage systems have capacity to absorb runoff. He said the pumps currently must run on a set schedule and operators could be liable if they deviate from that mandate during major weather events.

Committee members offered no substantive questions. The committee recorded a motion to report the bill favorably, noted a support card from D. Stanley with the Tesh Vermillion Freshwater District, and reported SB214 favorably without objection. No vote tally was recorded in the hearing transcript.

The bill’s sponsor framed the change as a narrowly tailored liability protection for emergency preparedness; the committee has not, in this hearing, provided details on any statutory language limiting when pumps may be halted or on required notice or coordination with state weather services. The bill was advanced to the next stage for further consideration.