On the House floor today, legislation to evaluate a so-called state water grid was resuscitated as an amendment to an unrelated water bill, SB 1301.
In response to this development, Ken Kramer, Water Resources Chair of Sierra Club’s Lone Star Chapter, issued the following statement:
“Horror movies often have sequels, and a monstrous water gridzilla, dying in the Texas Senate, has been resurrected by a questionable maneuver on the House floor. It’s time for the heroes and heroines of Texas – the people – to slay this monster before it tramples on property rights, state finances, and the natural heritage of Texas. Call your State Representative and tell them to defeat SB 1301 on the House floor Friday.”
[Editor's Note: UPDATE! Under pressure, and due to a question of whether it was germane to the bill. Rep. Larson pulled the Water Gridzilla amendment from SB 1301 today, May 22, allowing it to pass cleanly! The fight is not yet over though, as Larson said from the House podium that there were other "vehicles" coming for his water grid legislation. Please stay tuned!]
Background:
The so-called state water grid – an elaborate, costly, and environmentally questionable system of water reservoirs, pipelines, pumping stations, and other infrastructure to move massive volumes of water around Texas – has been pushed by State Rep. Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio) and State Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock). Legislation to create a game plan for a state water grid passed the House without scrutiny earlier, but that legislation (HB 3298 and a related Senate bill, SB 1907) ran into a buzz saw of opposition in the Senate from both Republicans and Democrats. It was declared dead by many in the Senate.
But this afternoon on the House floor, Rep. Larson attached an amendment to an unrelated bill – SB 1301 by Rep Eddie Lucio III (D-Brownsville) – that revived the proposed state water grid. The bill was a simple bill to conform the membership of the board of the Texas Water Resources Finance Authority to that of the recently restructured Texas Water Development Board. Rep. Larson, in a quick action that took most House members off-guard, amended SB 1301 to include a revised version of the state water grid bill.
SB 1301 must pass the Texas House on a final vote Friday. The amendment that went on the bill is now being challenged on a point of order. If that point of order fails, and SB 1301 goes to a vote with the amendment intact, Sierra Club is urging House members to defeat the bill. Texans who want to verify their current State Representative and call in opposition to SB 1301 may go to http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/Home.aspx to get that information.