HB 1807: Waters and water rights; requiring all permit holders to utilize certain system for use of water; allocation; conservation; prohibiting excessive use; effective date. - Oklahoma

Floor (House) → Floor (Senate) · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to change the House version to a Senate floor version, adding a coauthor from the Senate and updating the effective date to November 1, 2025. The substantive policy content regarding groundwater metering and allocation remains largely the same, though the formatting and committee attribution were adjusted for the Senate floor.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; no new eligibility criteria, funding amounts, or definitions were added or removed.

TIMELINE

The effective date was updated to November 1, 2025 in the Senate version.

TECHNICAL

A Senate coauthor (Jech) was added to the bill sponsorship.

The committee report attribution was changed from 'Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Oversight' to 'Committee on Energy' with a new date.

House-specific formatting and page headers were removed in favor of Senate floor version formatting.

HB1807 (5-06-25) (MURDOCK) FA3.PDF → Floor (House) · 7 edits

MODERATE

This bill was amended to remove a $30 million appropriation for groundwater metering equipment and instead establish a comprehensive metering and allocation system. The House version adds detailed requirements for water well metering, creates a five-year flexible allocation system to encourage conservation, and sets specific compliance rules for permit holders.

Scope change

The bill now applies to all permit holders authorized to take and use groundwater in Oklahoma basins or subbasins, with specific provisions for existing permits, new applications, and areas where maximum annual yield has not yet been determined.

FISCAL

Deleted the $30 million appropriation for groundwater metering equipment from the General Revenue Fund.

REQUIREMENT

Added mandatory metering requirements for all groundwater permit holders, requiring approved meters and periodic reporting of water usage.

Added specific compliance requirements including annual usage reports from approved measurement systems and payment of annual groundwater permit fees.

Removed the requirement to renumber subsequent sections after adding new metering provisions.

TIMELINE

Established a five-year flexible allocation system starting January 1, 2026, allowing permit holders to exceed annual allocations while maintaining cumulative limits.

Set the effective date of the act to November 1, 2025.

ENFORCEMENT

Set a maximum limit of 200% over permitted annual allocation in any single year of the five-year period.

HB1807 (5-01-25) (MURDOCK) WDFA1.PDF → HB1807 (5-06-25) (MURDOCK) FA3.PDF · 4 edits

MODERATE

The amendment was modified to apply to the Floor Substitute version of the bill rather than the original House Bill, and the funding appropriation section was renumbered. The substantive policy content regarding groundwater measurement systems and the $30 million appropriation remains unchanged.

Scope change

The amendment now targets the Floor Substitute version of HB 1807 instead of the original House Bill, indicating a procedural adjustment in how the amendment is applied.

PROCEDURAL

Changed the amendment reference from 'House Bill No. 1807' to 'the Floor Substitute to House Bill No. 1807', indicating the amendment now applies to a revised version of the bill.

Removed the original amendment text that proposed requiring groundwater permit holders to implement measurement systems, as this content was deleted from the Floor Amendment section.

Added a new amendment item that references the Floor Substitute and includes the funding appropriation language that was previously in a different section.

TECHNICAL

Renumbered the subsequent section after the funding appropriation from '3' to '2' to align with the new amendment structure.

HB1807 (5-01-25) (MURDOCK) FA1.PDF → HB1807 (5-01-25) (MURDOCK) WDFA1.PDF · 1 edit

MINOR

The document metadata was updated to reflect a later revision timestamp, changing from May 1, 2025 to May 6, 2025. No substantive policy, legal, or operational changes were made to the bill's text.

TECHNICAL

The revision timestamp in the header was updated from 5/1/2025 to 5/6/2025, indicating a later version of the document was generated.

HB1807 (5-01-25) (JECH) FS FA2.PDF → HB1807 (5-01-25) (MURDOCK) FA1.PDF · 4 edits

MODERATE

Senator Murdock amended HB 1807 to replace the original metering requirements with a new funding provision. The amendment removes the requirement for the Oklahoma Water Resources Board to mandate water well metering and reporting, and instead appropriates $30 million to the Board for fiscal year 2026 to help permit holders implement measurement systems. This significantly reduces regulatory burden on permit holders while providing financial support for compliance.

Scope change

The bill's scope shifted from mandating groundwater metering to providing funding for measurement systems, removing direct regulatory requirements on permit holders.

REQUIREMENT

Removed Section 1 requiring the Oklahoma Water Resources Board to mandate groundwater metering systems and reporting for all permit holders.

FISCAL

Added Section 2 appropriating $30,000,000 to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board for fiscal year 2026 to assist permit holders in implementing groundwater measurement systems.

TIMELINE

Removed the original effective date of November 1, 2025, as the metering mandate was eliminated.

ELIGIBILITY

Removed provisions regarding five-year flex allocation for groundwater permits, which allowed permit holders to exceed annual allocations under certain conditions.

House Committee Substitute → HB1807 (5-01-25) (JECH) FS FA2.PDF · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill was amended from a committee substitute to a floor substitute version, updating the document title and page numbers. The substantive policy content regarding water metering requirements, flex allocation provisions, and effective dates remains unchanged between the two versions.

Scope change

No substantive scope change; the bill's applicability to water wells, permit holders, and the Oklahoma Water Resources Board remains the same.

TECHNICAL

Document title changed from 'COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE' to 'FLOOR SUBSTITUTE' with updated formatting.

Page reference numbers updated from 'Req. No. 13083' to 'Req. No. 2087' throughout the document.

Footer metadata changed from '60-1-13083 JBH 03/03/25' to '60-1-2087 RD 5/1/2025 3:14:32 PM'.

House Conference Committee Substitute → House Committee Substitute · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was reformatted from a Conference Committee Substitute to a Committee Substitute, removing the Senate's amendments and reverting to the House version. The substantive policy content regarding groundwater metering and allocation remains the same, but the legislative version changed.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; only the legislative version and formatting were modified.

TECHNICAL

The document title changed from 'Conference Committee Substitute' to 'Committee Substitute', indicating the bill is now in its House Committee version rather than the final conference version.

The Senate's name (Jech of the Senate) and the Conference Committee designation were removed, as this is no longer the conference version.

Page reference numbers and request numbers were updated from 13824 to 13083, reflecting the new House version numbering.

Proposed Committee Substitute (full committee) 1 → House Conference Committee Substitute · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to convert it from a proposed committee substitute to a conference committee substitute, reflecting agreement between the House and Senate versions. The substantive policy content regarding groundwater metering, allocation rules, and effective dates remains largely unchanged, with only minor formatting and numbering adjustments.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; this is a procedural amendment to reconcile House and Senate versions.

TECHNICAL

Title changed from 'Proposed Oversight Committee Substitute' to 'Conference Committee Substitute' to reflect final legislative agreement.

Sponsor attribution updated to include both House (Newton) and Senate (Jech) sponsors.

Page reference number updated from 12945 to 13824 in the footer.

Date in footer updated from 02/26/25 to 05/20/25.

Engrossed → Proposed Committee Substitute (full committee) 1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was completely rewritten from scratch by the committee, replacing the original text with a new version that maintains the same core purpose of requiring water well metering and establishing groundwater conservation measures. The substantive policy content remains largely unchanged, with the same requirements for metering, reporting, and flexible allocation provisions.

Scope change

No change in scope or applicability; the bill still applies to groundwater permit holders in Oklahoma basins or subbasins.

TECHNICAL

Original bill text was entirely deleted and replaced with new committee substitute text.

Page numbering and formatting were updated to reflect the committee substitute version.

New header information including committee amendment details and reading clerk information.

Amended And Engrossed → Engrossed · 5 edits · May 7, 2025

MODERATE

The Senate amended the House version of HB 1807 to reorganize the bill's sections and add new provisions for groundwater management. The amendment adds a five-year flexible allocation system for permit holders starting January 1, 2026, allowing them to exceed annual allocation limits in individual years while maintaining cumulative usage limits over the five-year period. The Senate also changed the effective date from an unspecified date to November 1, 2025, and swapped the order of House and Senate passage dates.

Scope change

The bill now applies to existing permit holders, new applicants, and temporary permit holders in basins or subbasins where maximum annual yield has not yet been determined, with specific provisions for domestic wells being excluded.

REQUIREMENT

Added a five-year flexible allocation system allowing permit holders to exceed annual groundwater usage limits in individual years while maintaining cumulative limits over the five-year period.

Added requirement that permit holders must submit annual usage reports from Board-approved measurement systems and pay annual permit fees to qualify for flexible allocation.

TIMELINE

Changed the effective date of the act from unspecified to November 1, 2025.

Added specific House passage date of March 12, 2025, and moved Senate passage to be completed later.

EXEMPTIONS

Added explicit exemption stating that the flexible allocation provisions do not apply to domestic wells.

Introduced → Amended And Engrossed · 5 edits · May 7, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was amended to clarify and expand the Oklahoma Water Resources Board's authority to require groundwater metering and reporting. The amendment adds more specific measurement technology requirements, establishes a five-year flexible allocation system for permit holders, and sets clearer rules for when permit holders can exceed their annual water usage limits.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include more detailed measurement technology requirements and established a new five-year flexible allocation system that allows permit holders to exceed their annual water usage limits under certain conditions.

REQUIREMENT

Added specific requirements for measurement systems to include pump and irrigation monitoring telemetry devices capable of reporting usage data.

Added specific requirements for permit holders to submit annual usage reports and pay annual groundwater permit fees to qualify for the flexible allocation system.

ELIGIBILITY

Created a new five-year flexible allocation system that allows existing permit holders to exceed their annual water usage limits while maintaining cumulative usage restrictions over the five-year period.

TIMELINE

Maintained the effective date of November 1, 2025, but added specific provisions for a five-year flex allocation beginning January 1, 2026.

ENFORCEMENT

Added a provision limiting permit holders from exceeding their permitted annual allocation by more than 200% in any single year of the five-year period.

Waters and water rights; requiring all permit holders to utilize certain system for use of water; allocation; conservation; prohibiting excessive use; effective date.

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