The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Texas Senate Bill 28 restricts groundwater export permits and requires multi-district approval for large transfers
Last action · August 15, 2025: FiledSponsor: Robert Nichols
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What This Bill Proposed
Texas Senate Bill 28 prohibits s from issuing new export permits after December 1, 2025, if an applicant's total permitted export exceeds five percent of the district's . Additionally, permits for wells transferring 25,000 gallons or more per day outside a district's boundaries require approval from at least two-thirds of the districts in the management area.
Water utilities, landowners, and industrial operators seeking to transport groundwater across district lines face stricter caps and regional board approval requirements before obtaining permits.
- Groundwater conservation districts in Texas are local entities tasked with regulating and managing groundwater withdrawal within their designated boundaries. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Groundwater conservation districts
Districts must enforce the five percent export cap, notify other districts in their management area for large well transfers, and secure multi-district board approval.
Groundwater export permit applicants
Applicants face strict percentage caps on total water volume exported and must navigate a multi-district voting process for wells producing 25,000 gallons or more daily.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is multi-district approval required for a groundwater transfer?
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News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · passed the Senate · in the House.
Procedural history
2 actions- Aug 15, 2025SenateIntroducedFiled
- Aug 15, 2025SenateReceived by the Secretary of the Senate
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Shift Toward Regional Oversight of Groundwater Exports
The legislation moves authority beyond single-district control by mandating a two-thirds approval vote from all districts within a management area for high-capacity water export applications.
Connected Entities
Sources
capitol.texas.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy60Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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