SB863

SB863 changes where Edwards Aquifer water may be used and separately lets state regulators authorize treated reclaimed water for underground storage and later recovery. These are distinct provisions; the reclaimed-water change is in the statewide Water Code, not limited by its text to the Edwards Aquifer. Signed June 20, 2025, the act took effect September 1, 2025. Final act; History.

For water withdrawn from the Edwards Aquifer, the act permits use within the Edwards Aquifer Authority’s boundaries or within a retail public utility’s certificated service area, fixed as that certificate existed on September 1, 2025, if any part of the area lay inside the authority on June 28, 1996. A certificate of convenience and necessity identifies the utility’s authorized service area; this is not an open-ended allowance for future territory. The prior authority-act wording limited use to the authority’s boundaries. Section 1; Authority’s pre-2025 act compilation, Section 1.34(b).

The same final subsection also expressly says withdrawn water may not be transported outside the authority’s boundaries by pipeline or other means for any purpose. Both sentences must be read together; this briefing does not resolve their application to a particular pipeline or service location. The official sponsor’s statement describes the purpose as addressing utilities whose longstanding service areas straddle the boundary. That explanation is not a substitute for the final transport restriction or proof that any particular utility qualifies. Exact enacted wording.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality may authorize injection of reclaimed water treated to standards it adopts, by rule or an individual or general permit. This is part of aquifer storage and recovery—putting water underground for later recovery and beneficial use. It is not permission to inject untreated wastewater or an automatic permit for a project. Section 2; Storage-and-recovery definitions.

The new authorization applies notwithstanding the existing state subsection requiring consideration of compliance with federal Safe Drinking Water Act standards. The act does not delete the other listed considerations about recoverability, existing wells and groundwater quality, or the existing location and notice requirements. It should not be described as removing all water-quality regulation or rewriting federal law. New Section 27.153(b-1); Existing authorization framework.