CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

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WATER CODE

TITLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

SUBCHAPTER A. PURPOSE AND POLICY

Sec. 1.001. PURPOSE OF CODE. (a) This code is enacted as a

part of the state's continuing statutory revision program, begun

by the Texas Legislative Council in 1963 as directed by the

legislature in Chapter 448, Acts of the 58th Legislature, Regular

Session, 1963 (Article 5429b-1, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).

The program contemplates a topic-by-topic revision of the state's

general and permanent statute law without substantive change.

(b) Consistent with the objectives of the statutory revision

program, the purpose of this code is to make the general and

permanent water law more accessible and understandable, by:

(1) rearranging the statutes into a more logical order;

(2) employing a format and numbering system designed to

facilitate citation of the law and to accommodate future

expansion of the law;

(3) eliminating repealed, duplicative, unconstitutional,

expired, executed, and other ineffective provisions; and

(4) restating the law in modern American English to the greatest

extent possible.

the substantive laws of the State of Texas.

(d) Laws of a local or special nature, such as statutes creating

various kinds of conservation and reclamation districts, are not

included in, or affected by, this code. The legislature believes

that persons interested in these local and special laws may rely

on the session laws and on compilations of these laws.

Acts 1971, 62nd Leg., p. 110, ch. 58, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 30, 1971.

Sec. 1.002. CONSTRUCTION OF CODE. (a) The Code Construction

Act (Chapter 311, Government Code) applies to the construction of

each provision in this code, except as otherwise expressly

provided by this code.

(b) In this code:

(1) a reference to a title, chapter, or section without further

identification is a reference to a title, chapter, or section of

this code; and

(2) a reference to a subtitle, subchapter, subsection,

subdivision, paragraph, or other numbered or lettered unit

without further identification is a reference to a unit of the

next larger unit of this code in which the reference appears.

revised by this code is considered to be a reference to the part

of this code that revises that statute or part of the statute.

Acts 1971, 62nd Leg., p. 110, ch. 58, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 30, 1971.

Amended by Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 479, Sec. 74, eff. Sept. 1,

1985; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 715, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 1.003. PUBLIC POLICY. It is the public policy of the state

to provide for the conservation and development of the state's

natural resources, including:

(1) the control, storage, preservation, and distribution of the

state's storm and floodwaters and the waters of its rivers and

streams for irrigation, power, and other useful purposes;

(2) the reclamation and irrigation of the state's arid,

semiarid, and other land needing irrigation;

(3) the reclamation and drainage of the state's overflowed land

and other land needing drainage;

(4) the conservation and development of its forest, water, and

hydroelectric power;

(5) the navigation of the state's inland and coastal waters;

(6) the maintenance of a proper ecological environment of the

bays and estuaries of Texas and the health of related living

marine resources; and

(7) the voluntary stewardship of public and private lands to

benefit waters of the state.

Acts 1971, 62nd Leg., p. 110, ch. 58, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 30, 1971.

Amended by Acts 1975, 64th Leg., p. 925, ch. 344, Sec. 1, eff.

June 19, 1975.

Amended by:

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.

1352, Sec. 1, eff. June 15, 2007.

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.

1430, Sec. 2.01, eff. September 1, 2007.

Sec. 1.004. FINDINGS AND POLICY REGARDING LAND STEWARDSHIP. (a)

The legislature finds that voluntary land stewardship enhances

the efficiency and effectiveness of this state's watersheds by

helping to increase surface water and groundwater supplies,

resulting in a benefit to the natural resources of this state and

to the general public. It is therefore the policy of this state

to encourage voluntary land stewardship as a significant water

management tool.

(b) "Land stewardship," as used in this code, is the voluntary

practice of managing land to conserve or enhance suitable

landscapes and the ecosystem values of the land. Land

stewardship includes land and habitat management, wildlife

conservation, and watershed protection. Land stewardship

practices include runoff reduction, prescribed burning, managed

grazing, brush management, erosion management, reseeding with

native plant species, riparian management and restoration, and

spring and creek-bank protection, all of which benefit the water

resources of this state.

Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.

1352, Sec. 2, eff. June 15, 2007.

Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.

1430, Sec. 2.02, eff. September 1, 2007.

State Codes and Statutes

State Codes and Statutes

State Codes and Statutes

State Codes and Statutes

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