Amend CSHB 846 by adding an appropriately numbered new
SECTION to the bill and appropriately renumbering subsequent
SECTIONS of the bill to read as follows:
      SECTION ____. Section 1.16(e), Chapter 626, Acts of the 73rd
Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is amended to read as follows:
      (e)  To the extent water is available for permitting, the
board shall issue the existing user a permit for withdrawal of an
amount of water equal to the user's maximum beneficial use of water
without waste during any one calendar year of the historical
period. If a water user does not have historical use for a full
year, then the authority shall issue a permit for withdrawal based
on an amount of water that would normally be beneficially used
without waste for the intended purpose for a calendar year. If the
total amount of water determined to have been beneficially used
without waste under this subsection exceeds the amount of water
available for permitting, the authority shall adjust the amount of
water authorized for withdrawal under the permits proportionately
to meet the amount available for permitting.  An existing
irrigation user shall receive a permit for not less than two
acre-feet a year for each acre of land the user actually irrigated
using water from the Edwards Aquifer, either exclusively or
commingled with other groundwater, in any one calendar year during
the historical period. An existing user who has operated a well for
three or more years during the historical period shall receive a
permit for at least the average amount of water withdrawn annually
during the historical period.