Tex.
Local Gov't Code Section 551.002
Protection of Streams and Watersheds by Home-rule Municipality
(a)
A home-rule municipality may prohibit the pollution or degradation of and may police a stream, drain, recharge feature, recharge area, or tributary that may constitute or recharge the source of water supply of any municipality.(b)
To change or abate by mechanical means a harmful excess of water, either constant or periodic, that threatens life and property within its boundaries, a municipality with a population of 150,001 to 239,999 may:(1)
straighten, widen, levee, restrain, or otherwise control or improve a river, creek, bayou, stream, or other body of water;(2)
grade or fill land; or(3)
take other appropriate actions.(c)
The municipality may pay for an improvement, or a part of an improvement, under Subsection (b) in the manner provided by Section 372.041 (Authority of Home-rule Municipality) or any other manner not expressly prohibited by the charter of the municipality.(d)
If an improvement under Subsection (b) is provided or operated by a water control body other than the municipality, the municipality may contribute to the payment of the cost, replacement, alteration, extension, maintenance, and operation of the improvement.(e)
If an improvement under Subsection (b) is provided and operated by the municipality, the municipality may solicit and receive from another water control body a contribution for the payment of the cost, alteration, enlargement, maintenance, and operation of the improvement.(f)
The municipality may purchase or otherwise acquire and take over any improvement or the maintenance or operation of any improvement and may contract to assume an outstanding bond debt or other debt secured by lien if:(1)
the debt was incurred to provide for the improvement; and(2)
the interest on the debt is not greater than six percent a year.(g)
The municipality may not, in purchasing or otherwise acquiring an improvement or the right to maintain and control property of a levee or improvement district, assume the bonded indebtedness outstanding and owing by the district unless the municipality is authorized to do so at an election at which the qualified voters of the municipality approve the assumption of indebtedness or maintenance.(h)
Subsection (f) supersedes any provision in a municipal charter that is not in conformity with that subsection. Subsection (f) does not authorize an increase in the municipal debt limit fixed by law.(i)
The municipality may contract with a water control body to perform, jointly with a water control body or independently, an action authorized by this section.(j)
Water control bodies otherwise having appropriate powers may use this section and contract with one another to accomplish the purposes of this section.(k)
A water control body, under contract with a municipality having power under this section, may provide money required to construct, maintain, and operate an improvement under this section, either separately or jointly under contract with another water control body, in a manner not expressly prohibited by the charter of the municipality or the statute creating the municipality or the water control body.(b)
A home-rule municipality may provide for the protection of and may police any watersheds.(c)
The authority granted by this section may be exercised inside the municipality’s boundaries or inside the municipality’s extraterritorial jurisdiction or outside the municipality’s extraterritorial jurisdiction only if required to meet other state or federal requirements. The authority granted by this section for the protection of recharge, recharge areas, or recharge features of groundwater aquifers may be exercised outside the municipality’s boundaries and within the extraterritorial jurisdiction provided the municipality exercising such authority has a population greater than 750,000 and the groundwater constitutes more than 75 percent of the municipality’s source of water supply.
Source:
Section 551.002 — Protection of Streams and Watersheds by Home-rule Municipality, https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.551.htm#551.002 (accessed Jun. 5, 2024).
