House Natural Resources Panel Heads to El Paso to Probe Rio Grande Compact, TCEQ Oversight

The Texas House Committee on Natural Resources will gavel in at 10 a.m. Mountain time Oct. 6 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center in El Paso to hear invited and public testimony on the Rio Grande Compact and oversight of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, followed by invited-only testimony on new water supply strategies, according to the official hearing notice. Anyone who wants to testify must register on-site, because the notice says registration is not available online for this hearing, and the committee says no live video will be broadcast. Texans who cannot make the trip can still file online comments on all three topics until the hearing adjourns.

Rep. Cody Harris, R-Palestine, chairs the 13-member panel, which has seven Republicans and six Democrats, with Rep. Armando Martinez, D-Weslaco, as vice chair, according to the House committee page. The notice places TCEQ under the committee’s jurisdiction, and the hearing takes the panel to the far western edge of the state, where the region’s surface water supply depends on deliveries governed by an interstate compact.

The Rio Grande Compact charge asks members to evaluate how groundwater pumping in southern New Mexico affects surface water supply in the El Paso region, to study the history and merit of Texas’ claims under the 1938 compact, and to identify disputes the compact decree leaves unresolved. The notice describes the decree as “pending before the U.S. Supreme Court,” but the case has since moved on. The high court approved a settlement and discharged the special master on May 26, ending 13 years of litigation that Texas began in January 2013, according to a June 5 TCEQ announcement. Under the decree, Texas receives 43% of the water released from Elephant Butte Reservoir and New Mexico 57%, measured by a new “Effective El Paso Index,” and New Mexico may under-deliver only within set limits before required water-management steps kick in, according to the National Agricultural Law Center. That version won federal support after the justices rejected an earlier proposed decree on June 21, 2024, because it failed to address the federal government’s interests. Members are likely to hear how the settlement is expected to work in practice and whether groundwater pumping remains a threat to El Paso’s supply.

The Agency Oversight charge directs the committee to monitor TCEQ, including for fraud, waste and abuse where applicable, under its broad oversight powers in Chapter 301 of the Government Code. The notice does not list specific enforcement or permitting matters, and it opens the topic to both invited and public testimony. TCEQ Chairwoman Brooke Paup said in the agency’s announcement that the Rio Grande settlement “secures Texas’ allocation,” and the agency credited legislative funding and its own technical and legal staff for supporting the case.

The final charge, Innovative Water Supply Strategies, is invited testimony only. It asks members to study the feasibility of the project types eligible for the New Water Supply for Texas Fund, identify impediments and recommend ways to speed up implementation. The Texas Water Development Board’s Texas Water Fund page describes the broader fund, and voters approved Proposition 4 in November 2025, a constitutional amendment dedicating a portion of state sales tax revenue to water projects. The board adopted the 2027 State Water Plan on July 23, and The Texas Dispatch has reported on the plan’s record projected cost, the backdrop for the committee’s interest in how new supply projects actually get built.

Public testimony on the first two charges is set for one hour, and the notice says witnesses may be limited to two minutes each. Because this is an interim hearing, the committee will take no vote and no legislation is before it. Its findings will inform an interim report and bills filed when the 90th Legislature convenes in January 2027.

Meeting at a glance

Committee members

• Rep. Cody Harris, R–Palestine (HD-8) — Chair
• Rep. Armando Martinez, D–Weslaco (HD-39) — Vice Chair
• Rep. Trent Ashby, R–Lufkin (HD-9)
• Rep. Jeff Barry, R–Pearland (HD-29)
• Rep. Cecil Bell Jr., R–Magnolia (HD-3)
• Rep. Brad Buckley, R–Salado (HD-54)
• Rep. Caroline Fairly, R–Amarillo (HD-87)
• Rep. Erin Elizabeth Gámez, D–Brownsville (HD-38)
• Rep. Josey Garcia, D–San Antonio (HD-124)
• Rep. Mary E. González, D–Clint (HD-75)
• Rep. Ramon Romero Jr., D–Fort Worth (HD-90)
• Rep. Denise Villalobos, R–Corpus Christi (HD-34)
• Rep. Erin Zwiener, D–Driftwood (HD-45)