Slide 5 of 13
Notes:
What about legislation in Texas? Because aquifers in Texas are treated as percolating instead of flowing, they are governed by the right of capture law. This law allows any landowner to pump as much water off their land as they want without legal recourse, even if they dry up a neighbor’s well. Thus, this systems seems to encourage a race for the available water supply, and Texas is one of the few states to still use this system.
Legislation passed in 1949 allowed for the creation of groundwater conservation districts, but only six existed before 1985. Then additional legislation in ‘85 redefined how district boundaries could be set and twenty-two were in existence by the end of 1987. However, the impact of these districts is moderate at best.
