Senator Hangenboom laid out a committee substitute for Senate Bill 19-59 to amend enabling law for the North Texas Groundwater Conservation District so the district must consider whether a proposed groundwater permit would supply water to ponds or lakes used for landscaping aesthetics.

Paul Sigel, general manager of the North Texas Groundwater Conservation District, told the committee that "over half the new permits has been for landscape, irrigation, and surface impoundments" and that this category now represents the second-largest permitted groundwater volume in the region. He said many of those permits are inside city boundaries where surface-water supply exists, and that the district needs tools to prioritize groundwater for domestic, agricultural and essential uses in rural areas that lack alternative supplies.

Sigel said the district does not intend to prohibit aesthetic uses but to ensure they are one factor in permitting decisions to protect rural users and agricultural operations that rely on the aquifer. Committee members asked clarifying questions about the bill's practical effects; witnesses confirmed the change would be incorporated into the district's permitting process going forward.

The committee adopted the committee substitute and voted to report the bill favorably to the full Senate (6 ayes, 0 nays).