Tex. Loc. Gov't Code § 551.004 · Chapter 551. WATER CONTROL BY MUNICIPALITIES
PROTECTION OF PLAYA LAKES BY CERTAIN HOME-RULE MUNICIPALITIES.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) In this section, "playa lake" means a natural saucer-like depression in the topography, typically having a clayey bottom that is normally located in an arid or semiarid part of the state and collects runoff from rain but is subject to rapid evaporation. The term includes all areas within the basin projected to be inundated by pooled storm water runoff, as determined by an engineering analysis performed according to the specific requirements adopted by and in effect for a municipality.
(b) The governing body of a home-rule municipality with a population of 185,000 or more may regulate the filling of a playa lake within the municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction as a means for the effective management of storm water runoff to prevent:
(1) harmful flooding; or
(2) excess surface water.
(c) A regulation adopted under this section may not:
(1) interfere with normal agricultural practices, including moving soil, berming for tail water reuse, plowing, seeding, cultivating, and harvesting for the production of food or fiber; or
(2) prohibit any practice or activity that does not decrease the water holding capacity of a playa lake.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 120, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
Renumbered from Local Government Code, Section 401.004 by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 885 (H.B. 2278), Sec. 3.76(a)(1), eff. April 1, 2009.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.551.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 44f4b33de0a1722b963ae6c7ae908cc6cfd00bd91c9c5b380111f35ba449830d
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.