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Show TEXAS 705 Exceptions may then be filed in opposition to the final determination. In considering the exceptions, the statute provides that the "court shall determine all issues of law and fact independently" of the Com- mission's determination, and that "the substantial evidence rule shall not be used." Questions of fact can be reviewed by the court only if they have been raised in the record before the Commission. The statutory procedure discussed above apparently was prompted by a number of cases instituted by the State of Texas to adjudicate water rights in the Lower Rio Grande in the early 1950's. The deci- sion which commanded the most, attention was the Valmont case.25 Another, /State v. Hidalgo County Water Control and Imp. Dist.,26 sought to adjudicate water rights to certain waters of the Rio Grande in connection with lands lying within the delta area of the river. There were approximately 3,000 defendants whose claims were based upon riparian rights, appropriation permits, certified filings, customary water rights, etc. After years of hearings, the trial court finally reached a judgment in 1966, which was affirmed in part by the court of civil appeals in 1969. Space does not permit a detailed discussion of the elaborate issues involved in the case, and it is perhaps sufficient to indicate that instead of adopting the usual principle that priority in time gives priority in right among appropriators,27 the court adopted a compli- cated system of "weighted priorities." The court also recognized a species of "equitable" riparian rights, which appear to have no earlier precedent in Texas water law. These are probably limited to the peculiar facts of this case. In any event, these cases demonstrated the need for general determination proceedings, and, as indicated above, they precipitated enactment of the 1967 adjudication statute. Dis- putes such as that involved in the Hidalgo case would be handled administratively through the water rights commission before reach- ing the courts. 2.3 Other Agencies Having Water Resource Responsibilities a. WATER QUALITY CONTROL Federal legislation since 1965 has prompted the adoption of State water quality standards in Texas. The State Water Quality Act, adopted in 1967,28 empowers the State water quality board to adopt standards for all Texas waters, although the Federal legislation ap- plies only to interstate waters. Standards were adopted by the board in June 1967, and, after approval and revision by the Secretary of the Interior, were published. The waters of the State were first divided into zones, and a deter- mination was then made as to the uses of water which were practical in each zone. This determination was made largely on the basis of existing records of the State water rights commission. Once these uses are so determined, it becomes necessary to ascer- tain what degree of alteration is permissible before the protected uses 28 Note 4. 28 443 S.W. 2d 728 (Tex. Civ. App. 1969) ref. n.r.e. 27 Sec. 5.027 : "As between appropriators, the first in time is the first in right." 28 Sees. 21.001 to 21.612. |