Powers Relating to Flooding

The Authority may:

  1. Prevent the devastation of land from recurrent overflows;
  2. Protect life and property in the authority from uncontrolled floodwater; and
  3. Encourage the conservation of soil to prevent destructive erosion and to prevent the increased flood menace related to that erosion.

Powers Relating To the Use of Water In General

The Authority may:

  1. Through practical means, provide for the control and coordination of the regulation of the water of the Neches River and its tributaries;
  2. By adequate organization and administration, provide for preserving the equitable rights of the people of different sections of the watershed area in the beneficial use of the water of the Neches River and its tributaries;
  3. Store, control, and conserve the water of the Neches River and its tributaries inside or outside the authority and prevent the escape of that water without the maximum of public service;
  4. Equitably distribute the water of the Neches River and its tributaries to meet the regional potential requirements for all uses, including domestic, manufacturing, and irrigation uses; and
  5. Use controlled and conserved floodwater and storm water for any purpose that results in the performance of a useful service authorized by the constitution of this state.

Powers Relating To Domestic, Commercial, or Industrial Use of Water

The Authority may:

  1. Conserve the water of the Neches River and its tributaries essential for the domestic uses of the people of the authority, including all necessary water supplies for cities and towns;
  2. Control the water of the Neches River and its tributaries and make the water available for use in the development of commercial and industrial enterprises in the entire watershed area of the authority; and
  3. Control, store, and use the water of the Neches River and its tributaries in the development and distribution of hydroelectric power, if that use is economically coordinated with other superior uses and subordinated to the uses declared by law to be superior.

Powers Relating To Use of Water for Irrigation

The Authority may:

Provide for the irrigation of all land in the authority or land outside the authority but inside the authority’s watershed area where the irrigation is required for agricultural purposes or is considered helpful to more profitable agricultural production.

Powers Relating To Drainage of Water

The Authority may:

  1. Provide for the better encouragement and development of drainage systems for, and provide for the drainage of, lands in the valleys of the Neches River and its tributaries as needed for profitable agricultural production; and
  2. Provide for drainage for other land in the watershed area of the authority as required for the most advantageous use of the land.

Powers Relating To the Acquisition of Operation of Works, Land or Other Property

The Authority may:

  1. Purchase or construct any work necessary or convenient for the exercise of the authority’s powers under this chapter and to accomplish the purposes of this chapter;
  2. Purchase or otherwise acquire land or other property necessary or convenient for carrying out the purposes of this chapter; and
  3. The plans and works provided by the authority, and the works provided under the power of the authority, shall regard primarily the necessary and potential needs for water by or within the area in the authority constituting the watershed of the Neches River and its tributaries.

Coordination and Joint Planning Undertakings Among Districts

The Authority may:

  1. Coordinate its plans with the authority; a drainage, conservation, reclamation, or other district created by this state with powers provided in Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution; and
  2. Enter into joint undertakings with other districts for the purposes for which the entities are created. The acts taken under Subsection (1) must be approved by a majority of the boards of directors of all the districts involved.