HB 674 Summary

• Creates the Alabama Water Sustainability and Security Act establishing the Office of Water Resources, Water Resources Council, and Water Resources Commission to develop a comprehensive water management plan within two years for legislative adoption.

• Requires the comprehensive water management plan to monitor and manage water withdrawals, protect minimum flows and levels, manage interbasin transfers, include conservation and efficiency programs, and establish drought management strategies.

• Modifies the Certificate of Use system to make water use rights a matter of legal record entitled to legal protection, with specific allocation preferences prioritizing direct human consumption, livestock and crop survival, then economic benefits.

• Places the burden of proof on persons proposing water withdrawals to demonstrate by preponderance of evidence that proposed withdrawals will not impair established protected minimum flows or levels.

• Establishes planning advisory committees to include federal, interstate, state, local, and private stakeholder representatives in developing the comprehensive water management plan, with public hearings required at various state locations.