Texas Water Code 36.002 – Ownership of Groundwater
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(a) The legislature recognizes that a landowner owns the groundwater below the surface of the landowner’s land as real property.
(b) The groundwater ownership and rights described by this section entitle the landowner, including a landowner’s lessees, heirs, or assigns, to:
(1) drill for and produce the groundwater below the surface of real property, subject to Subsection (d), without causing waste or malicious drainage of other property or negligently causing subsidence; and
(2) have any other right recognized under common law.
Terms Used In Texas Water Code 36.002
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Rule: includes regulation. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(b-1) The groundwater ownership and rights described by this section do not:
(1) entitle a landowner, including a landowner’s lessees, heirs, or assigns, to the right to capture a specific amount of groundwater below the surface of that landowner’s land; or
(2) affect the existence of common law defenses or other defenses to liability under the rule of capture.
(c) Nothing in this code shall be construed as granting the authority to deprive or divest a landowner, including a landowner’s lessees, heirs, or assigns, of the groundwater ownership and rights described by this section.
(d) This section does not:
(1) prohibit a district from limiting or prohibiting the drilling of a well by a landowner for failure or inability to comply with minimum well spacing or tract size requirements adopted by the district;
(2) affect the ability of a district to regulate groundwater production as authorized under § 36.113, 36.116, or 36.122 or otherwise under this chapter or a special law governing a district; or
(3) require that a rule adopted by a district allocate to each landowner a proportionate share of available groundwater for production from the aquifer based on the number of acres owned by the landowner.
(e) This section does not affect the ability to regulate groundwater in any manner authorized under:
(1) Chapter 626, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, for the Edwards Aquifer Authority;
(2) Chapter 8801, Special District Local Laws Code, for the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District; and
(3) Chapter 8834, Special District Local Laws Code, for the Fort Bend Subsidence District.