WSP01461 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I t ground water rights application is the determination whether or not existing rights will be permanently impaired. If it can be established that no impairment will occur, the State Engineer shall then issue the permit. TEXAS WATER LAW Surface Water Unlike Colorado and New Mexico, the State of Texas recognizes riparian rights as well as appropriative rights for surface water. A large majority of water rights held in the state are appropriative in nature, however, since riparian claims after July 1, 1895 have not been recognized. Water appropriations are made for specific amounts of water, generally stated terms of annual usage. Permits may be issued for any period of time, but historically have been issued in perpetuity, as is the case for most of the permits issued in the Rio Grande. There are no privately held surface waters within the state. Under Texas Codes Ann. ~11.021, all surface waters, including the water of the ordinary flow, underflow and tides of every bay or arm of the Gulf of Mexico, and the storm water, flood water and rain water of every river, natural stream, canyon, ravine, depression, and watershed in the state, is the pro- perty of the state. This statute further states that water which is imported from any source outside the boundaries of the state for use in the state which is transported through the beds and banks of any navigable stream within the state or by utilizing any facilities owned or operated by the state is the property of the state. To perfect and acquire title to a water right under Texas law, the water must be used for three years in the beneficial manner for which it was appropriated (Texas Codes Ann., ~11.025 and 11.029), which protects the permit holder against claim of-water made against the same body of water. Conversely, the right can be forfeited for willful failure to use the water for three successive years for the purposes for which it was specifically appropriated. 0057 57