1. (a) If the commission in its order under Section 35.008 recommends that the priority groundwater management area or a portion of the priority groundwater management area be added to an existing district, the commission shall give notice to the board of the existing district recommended in its order and to any other existing districts adjacent to the priority groundwater management area.
2. (b) The commission shall submit a copy of the order to the board of the district to which it is recommending the priority groundwater management area be added. The board shall vote on the addition of the priority groundwater management area to the district and shall advise the commission of the outcome.

3. (c) If the board votes to accept the addition of the priority groundwater management area to the district, the board:

   1. (1) may request the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, the commission, and the Texas Water Development Board, with the cooperation and assistance of the Department of Agriculture and other state agencies, to administer an educational program to inform the residents of the status of the area's water resources and management options including possible annexation into a district;
   2. (2) shall call an election within the priority groundwater management area, or portion of the priority groundwater management area, as delineated by the commission to determine if the priority groundwater management area will be added to the district; and
   3. (3) shall designate election precincts and polling places for the elections in the order calling an election under this subsection.
4. (d) The board shall give notice of the election and the proposition to be voted on. The board shall publish notice of the election at least one time in one or more newspapers with general circulation within the boundaries of the priority groundwater management area. The notice must be published before the 30th day preceding the date set for the election.
5. (e) The ballots for the election shall be printed to provide for voting for or against the proposition: "The inclusion of _________________________ (briefly describe priority groundwater management area) in the ______________ District." If the district has outstanding debts or taxes, the proposition shall include the following language: "and assumption by the described area of a proportional share of the debts or taxes of the district."
6. (f) Immediately after the election, the presiding judge of each polling place shall deliver the returns of the election to the board, and the board shall canvass the returns for the election within the priority groundwater management area and declare the results. If a majority of the voters in the priority groundwater management area voting on the proposition vote in favor of the proposition, the board shall declare that the priority groundwater management area is added to the district. If a majority of the voters in the priority groundwater management area voting on the proposition vote against adding the priority groundwater management area to the district, the board shall declare that the priority groundwater management area is not added to the district. The board shall file a copy of the election results with the commission.
7. (g) If the voters approve adding the priority groundwater management area to the district, the board of the district to which the priority groundwater management area is added shall provide reasonable representation on that board compatible with the district's existing scheme of representation. Not later than the 30th day after the date on which the board declares that the priority groundwater management area is added to the district, the board of the existing district shall appoint a person or persons to represent the area until the next regularly scheduled election or appointment of directors.
8. (h) If the proposition is defeated, or if the board of the existing district votes not to accept the addition of the area to the district, then the commission shall, except as provided under Subsection (i), create under Section 36.0151 one or more districts covering the priority groundwater management area not later than the first anniversary of the date on which the proposition is defeated or the board votes not to accept the area.
9. (i) For an area that is not feasible for the creation of one or more districts as determined in the commission's findings under Section 35.008, the commission shall include in its report under Section 35.018 recommendations for the future management of the priority groundwater management area.
10. (j) Another election to add the priority groundwater management area to an existing district may not be called before the first anniversary of the date on which the election on the proposition was held.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 933, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1010, Sec. 4.15, eff. Sept. 1, 1997;

Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 456, Sec. 12, eff. June 18, 1999;

Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 979, Sec. 14, eff. June 18, 1999;

Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 966, Sec. 2.27, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.