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" I. Implementation Of The Texas Water Bank. Water Marketing For several decades, water marketing has been used successfully as a management tool to relieve water shortages in the Westem states by both providing water to satisfy public and private demands and by reducing conflicts between competing users. In Texas, water marketing has recently become an issue of some importance due to increasing urban growth, limited supplies of available water, and an increasing awareness of the environmental necessity of water to maintain viable ecosystems. The Texas Water Bank, which this report describes, was created to assist in water marketing transactions, both within the purview of the institution itself and extemally, acting as an information clearinghouse to provide a forum where willing buyers and sellers can meet. The hope remains that water marketing, wherever and however it occurs, will provide water for competing uses. in a more efficient and economic manner than that previously experienced, and thereby delay the implementation of more costly water development measures. Background The 73rd Legislature (1993) passed, and Govemor Ann Richards signed, SB 1030 which provided for the creation of a statewide water bank. The Act has since been codified as V.T.C.A., Water Code ~15.701 - ~15.708, new Subchapter K. The Act authorizes the Texas Water Development Board (Board) to both establish and administer a water bank to facilitate the transfer of water and water rights among willing buyers and sellers throughout the State. The Act also requires the Board to report to the governor and members of the legislature conceming the implementation of the Texas Water Bank. The contenl8 of the report are to identify: (1) any changes needed in the program authorized by the Act, and (2) ways to assist in providing flows to meet instream, water quality, fish and wildlife habitat, and bay and estuary inflow needs through the water rights marketing and transfer process. This document has been prepared to address those requiremenl8 and has been coordinated with the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) as well as the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). Key Aspects of Senate Bill 1030: * Creates a water bank to be administered by the Board * Provides great latitude in how the water bank can be structured and operated * Gives the Board the ability to administer the water bank, through the following means: . negotiation . authorization of registries and provision of infonnation . use of the bank to encourage water conservation, by allowing conserved water, in the amount specified by the appropriate pennittlng authority, to be deposited into the water bank 1