Texas Sunset Advisory Commission reviews and seeks public comment on the TWDB

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), the state agency that provides water planning, data collection and dissemination, financial assistance, and technical assistance services to the citizens of Texas, is undergoing review by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission.

The Commission invites the public to provide feedback about the functions and performance of the agency by December 15.

“We encourage anyone who has worked with our agency to share their experiences with the Sunset Commission to help identify opportunities for improvement,” said TWDB Executive Director Jeff Walker. 

The Sunset Commission routinely evaluates the mission and performance of state agencies. A 12-member legislative advisory body works to identify and eliminate waste, duplication, and inefficiency for more than 130 Texas state agencies.

During the 2020–2021 review cycle, the Sunset Commission evaluated 19 entities, including the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Teachers Retirement System of Texas, Texas Department of Agriculture, and two river authorities.

The Sunset review involves an in-depth look at the agency’s key functions and the effectiveness of its programs and processes. The TWDB review process began with a self-evaluation report delivered to the Sunset Commission in September 2021.

The report includes information about the agency’s essential functions, policymaking structure, funding, and organization.

In addition, the report also presents several issues identified by the TWDB that the Sunset Commission could potentially help address through changes in statute to improve the TWDB’s operations and service delivery.

The agency’s self-evaluation is the first step in the Sunset Review process. After the agency’s self-evaluation is submitted, Sunset Commission staff will review the agency’s self-evaluation report, seek public input, and issue a staff report about the TWDB.

Next, the Sunset Commission will hold two public meetings: a hearing on the Commission’s staff report and the agency, and a decision meeting to adopt recommendations to the legislature.

Third, the Texas Legislature will convene in January 2023 to consider the Sunset Commission’s statutory recommendations and make final decisions.

The Sunset Commission examines the need for each agency and considers new, innovative changes to improve each agency’s operations and activities.

“We look forward to making our agency more effective and efficient as a result of the Sunset review,” said Walker. 

The TWDB was previously subject to a Sunset Review in 2011, and the Texas Legislature made improvements to the agency including changes to Texas groundwater law and the addition of a groundwater management area representative to each applicable regional water planning group.

The Texas Sunset Act requires the Sunset Commission to review state agencies and recommend changing state law to improve the agency’s efficiency and effectiveness.

The Commission’s primary function is to propose recommendations that streamline state government operations to the Texas Legislature as a Sunset Bill. The legislature decides whether to adopt the Sunset Commission’s statutory recommendations.

The Sunset Advisory Commission welcomes public participation at every stage. There are several ways to provide comments and suggestions to Commission staff on the missions, operations, and services of the agency and SWIFT Advisory Committee:

• Send an email to sunset@sunset.texas.gov
• Submit comments online at www.sunset.texas.gov
• Send a letter to Sunset Advisory Commission, Attn: TWDB and SWIFT, P.O. Box 13066, Austin, Texas 78711
• Call 512-463-1300 to speak to Darren McDivitt, project manager of the review

The Sunset Commission’s report on the TWDB will be made available in Spring 2022.