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Show Chapter 43. TEXAS CONTENTS Page 1. Development of Texas Water Law____________________________ 699 2. State Organizational Structure for Water Administration and Control.__ 702 2.1 Administration of Water Rights_______________________ 702 2.2 Resolution of Water Use Conflicts_____________________ 703 2.3 Other Agencies Having Water Resource Responsibilities____ 705 3. Surface Waters____________________________________________ 707 3.1 Method of Acquiring Rights__________________________ 707 3.2 Nature and Limit of Rights__________________________ 707 3.3 Changes, Sales, and Transfers________________________ 709 3.4 Loss of Rights_____________________________________ 709 3.5 Storage Waters, Artificial Lakes, and Ponds_____________ 711 3.6 Springs__________________________________________ 711 3.7 Diffused Surface Waters_____________________________ 711 4. Ground Water____________________________________________ 712 Publications Available________________________________________ 712 DISCUSSION 1. Development of Texas Water Law After 4 years of work, the Texas Legislative Council submitted to the legislature a new water code which was enacted and became ef- fective on August 30, 1971.1 The three-volume water code, like other projects in the State's continuing statutory revision program, pur- ports to make the materials in this area more accessible and under- standable without in any way changing the substantive water law of the State. Whether substantive changes have in fact been made will undoubtedly be the subject of some concern and perhaps litigation in the years to come. Sections have been rearranged, the numbering system changed, out- moded and unconstitutional sections deleted, and, whenever possible, provisions have been restated in "modern American English." The new laws incorporate the provisions of an old constitutional amend- ment to the effect that it is the public policy of the State to provide for the conservation and development of its water resources.2 It may be helpful to recount briefly the major periods in Texas water law, but there is some risk that such brevity can be more mis- leading than helpful. Accepting that risk, it can be noted that some water rights go back to the early periods in Texas history, but they are rapidly becoming academic in many parts of the State, and there is no need to treat these matters in great detail. However, as a his- torical note, the early water law of Texas has been the subject of spirited, scholarly debate, including academic disputes over riparian rights in connection with the Spanish and Mexican land grants on demon's Texas Codes Ann., -water (1972). For convenience, the statutes are re- ferred to hereafter simply by section numbers. "Texas const., art. 16, sec. 59(a). 699 |
