There is hereby created the Alabama Water Resources Commission. The commission shall consist of 19 members who are citizens of this state as follows:

(1) Seven of the members of the commission shall be appointed by the Governor with one member being a resident of each congressional district and with at least one member being a resident of each surface water region; provided, however, that no more than two residents from each surface water region may be appointed by the Governor to serve on the commission at the same time.

(2) The Governor shall also appoint one member of the commission from a list of five candidates submitted by an organization representing a majority of the rural water systems in the state, and one member from a list of five candidates submitted by a statewide organization representing soil and water conservation districts in the state.

(3) Five of the members of the commission shall be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, one of the members being appointed from a list of five candidates submitted by an urban public water system in the state using 90 million gallons of water or more per day from the waters of the state on an average daily basis, one of the members being appointed from a list of five candidates submitted by a statewide organization representing a majority of persons, other than public water systems, using twenty million gallons of water or more per day from the waters of the state on an average daily basis during any calendar month for diverse industrial, commercial, business, or manufacturing purposes, one of the members being appointed from a list of five candidates submitted by an organization representing environmental, conservation, or water-related recreation interests in the state, one of the members being appointed from a list of five candidates submitted by an organization representing a majority of urban public water systems in the state using less than 90 million gallons of water per day from the waters of the state on an average daily basis, and one member being appointed from the state at-large.

(4) Five of the members of the commission shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, one of the members being appointed from a list of five candidates submitted by an organization representing a majority of urban public water systems in the state using less than 90 million gallons of water per day from the waters of the state on an average daily basis, one of the members being appointed from a list of five candidates submitted by a statewide organization representing a majority of persons, other than public water systems, using twenty million gallons of water or more per day from the waters of the state on an average daily basis during any calendar month for diverse industrial, commercial, business, or manufacturing purposes, one member being appointed from a list of five candidates submitted by commercial navigation interests in the state, one member being appointed from a list of five candidates submitted by an organization representing a majority of persons who are required to submit declarations of beneficial use for irrigation purposes, and one member being appointed from the state at-large.

(5) The appointing authority shall immediately inform the Office of Water Resources in writing of the name and address of each initial or successor member of the commission. All appointments to the commission shall be published by the Office of Water Resources in a newspaper of general circulation in Montgomery County. Any objections to the appointment of a member of the commission shall be made in writing to the appointing authority within 30 days of the publication of such appointment and shall be limited to the failure of the appointing authority to appoint a member in accordance with the provisions of this section. Any such objections not made within this 30-day period shall be deemed waived.

(6) Members of the commission shall meet all requirements of the State Ethics Law and the conflict of interest provisions of applicable federal laws and regulations.