2025 Texas sessionsRegular and both called sessions have ended. This index covers House and Senate bills, not resolutions. Statuses come from official reports.

2025 · Regular session · House bill

HB2078

HB2078 requires clearer explanations of groundwater goals, progress and changes, with interim checkpoints for long-term planning. “Desired future conditions” are the aquifer conditions groundwater districts jointly plan to achiev…

Read bill highlights ↓

Official caption: Relating to the joint planning of desired future conditions in groundwater management areas.

Signed by governorSource-checked explanation published

Official report lists House author(s): Gerdes, Isaac. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.

Report an error ↗

Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.

Bill highlights

Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.

HB2078 requires clearer explanations of groundwater goals, progress and changes, with interim checkpoints for long-term planning. “Desired future conditions” are the aquifer conditions groundwater districts jointly plan to achieve.
Each district's management plan must explain in plain language how it monitors and tracks its desired future conditions and how it performed over the preceding five-year joint-planning period.
District representatives must still meet at least annually for joint planning.
Representatives must adopt conditions for the approximately 50-year planning periods identified for state and regional water plans.
The law took effect September 1, 2025, not immediately: the recorded House vote was 97 in favor, below the two-thirds-of-all-elected-members threshold required by its immediate-effect clause.

Read the full explanation ↓

What does it do?

HB2078 requires clearer explanations of groundwater goals, progress and changes, with interim checkpoints for long-term planning. “Desired future conditions” are the aquifer conditions groundwater districts jointly plan to achieve. The act changes the planning and reporting process; it does not itself set a statewide pumping quota or a particular aquifer’s allowable decline. Final law; joint-planning framework.

Each district’s management plan must explain in plain language how it monitors and tracks its desired future conditions and how it performed over the preceding five-year joint-planning period. The management-area explanatory report must also explain why an aquifer’s desired future condition changed from the preceding planning period, if it did, and summarize each district’s performance. Final law, Sections 1–2.

District representatives must still meet at least annually for joint planning. They review area accomplishments and proposed future conditions, and must review each district’s management plan at least once during each five-year period. The review expressly considers how each district is actually achieving the desired conditions through its plan and rules. The act separates annual meetings from the minimum frequency for reviewing every management plan. Final law, amended 36.108(c)–(c-1).

Representatives must adopt conditions for the approximately 50-year planning periods identified for state and regional water plans. They must identify interim values at intervals of no more than ten years solely to help monitor progress toward those long-term conditions. Those monitoring values are not described as a separate set of new pumping permits or penalties. Existing public-comment, hearing, scientific-factor and adoption requirements remain relevant. Final law, 36.108(d-1a); existing 36.108(d)–(d-4).

The law took effect September 1, 2025, not immediately: the recorded House vote was 97 in favor, below the two-thirds-of-all-elected-members threshold required by its immediate-effect clause. The old January 2022 date retained in the planning statute is part of the recurring five-year framework, not a new 2025 deadline. Final law and certified votes; history.

What changed along the way?

The introduced and House committee versions used a “50-year” period, imposed the new timing provisions on both districts and district representatives, and expressly said they could adopt future conditions for other time periods. Introduced; House committee.

The sole indexed amendment, Gerdes H21, was adopted May 15. It replaced that provision with the final requirement directed to district representatives for approximately 50-year periods and the no-more-than-ten-year monitoring values. It deleted the proposed express permission for other time periods and moved the subsection. That deleted permission should not be presented as part of this act’s enacted changes. Full amendment; House-passed text.

The Senate committee and enrolled texts retained the House-passed substance. The House passed the bill May 16 and the Senate May 27; no conference was needed. All versions; amendment index; history.

For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.

Official bill versions

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?

Landowners, water users and the public gain clearer information about aquifer goals and whether management is on track. Districts gain checkpoints for explaining progress but must prepare additional narrative and monitoring information. Better reporting does not itself guarantee a particular groundwater supply or resolve competing water-use interests. Final law.

The latest fiscal note anticipated no significant state or local-government fiscal impact, assuming implementation could be absorbed using existing resources. It did not estimate a dollar value for water saved, landowner benefits or future changes in pumping. May 23 fiscal note.

Official sources

Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.