Honey Creek State Natural Area
The Sierra Club’s two priority bills in the current Texas legislative session have moved forward, but with only a month left in the session, quick action is needed to get the legislation to the finish line. Sierra Club members and friends immediately need to contact their Senators to urge passage of House Bill 2225, and State Representatives (members of the Texas House) need to be urged to pass House Bill 2716 and get it over to the Senate.
HB 2225 is a bill that directs Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the state’s primary agency for managing fish and wildlife, to take an active role in expanding the use of the existing Texas Water Trust to preserve instream flows in the state’s rivers and freshwater inflows to our productive coastal bays and estuaries. These “environmental flows” are critical to maintaining healthy populations of fish and wildlife dependent upon that water. Such flows also enhance water quality and provide recreational opportunities enjoyed by millions of Texans and visitors to our state.
HB 2225, sponsored by State Rep. Tracy King and others, passed the House in April on a vote of 138 to 10. The bill is now in the Senate, where the legislation is being carried by State Senator Judith Zaffirini. HB 2225 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture & Rural Affairs and is expected to be heard in that Committee shortly. Although the bill is popular, time is running short. If you are a fan of flowing rivers, fish and wildlife, and our state’s bountiful coastal resources, call and/or email your State Senator NOW and ask them to help get HB 2225 to the Senate floor and passed.
HB 2716, also sponsored by Rep. King, is an even more critical bill. It would restore to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department the authority of the agency to contest water rights permits and pollution discharge permits issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) if such permits might adversely affect state parks and wildlife management areas or the fish and wildlife managed by the agency. Parks and Wildlife had that authority until 2011 when a single sentence buried in an amendment to a bill on TCEQ gutted that authority. Most legislators did not know what happened until after the bill had passed and become law.
As a result of that sneak attack in 2011, Parks and Wildlife Department was recently unable to fight a proposed wastewater discharge that would have flowed into spring-fed Honey Creek and the Honey Creek State Natural Area (next to Guadalupe River State Park). Fortunately, in that case, sufficient public pressure was brought to bear on the developer seeking the discharge to resolve the issue. Next time, the outcome might be different unless Parks and Wildlife is once again given the authority to protect the public’s properties and the public’s fish and wildlife.
HB 2716 was favorably reported from the House Natural Resources Committee on Earth Day (April 22). As of this writing, the bill is in the House Calendars Committee, awaiting a decision as to if and when it will be set for consideration on the House floor. If you believe that the Parks and Wildlife Department ought to have the right to defend your state parks and wildlife management areas and your fish and wildlife resources, you need to immediately call and/or email your State Representative and urge them to help get HB 2716 to the House floor, approved, and sent to the Senate right away. If you would like more information about HB 2716, click here. Take action NOW!