By Kate Galbraith and Christopher Smith Gonzalez 3/30/2011
TEXAS TRIBUNE
The Texas Senate passed a much-discussed piece of groundwater legislation, voting 28-3 to approve a bill (SB 332) stating that landowners in the state have a "vested ownership interest" in the groundwater beneath their land.
"We're just clarifying that you do have a vested interest in that water below your property," said state Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, who chairs the Committee on Natural Resources and sponsored the bill. However, he said, the bill also establishes that landowners' rights are subject to the rules of the groundwater conservation districts, which are locally elected bodies that seek to manage aquifers for the long term and dole out permits to farmers and other water users.
The bill approved today contains additional emphasis on the conservation districts' roles than in its original version. Fraser worked with Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, who had introduced a different bill on landowner rights that gave more emphasis to the groundwater conservation districts' importance. Duncan's concern was that declaring landowners' vested ownership interest — something understood in Texas today but not explicitly stated in the law — would lead to litigation among the various stakeholders in Texas water. However, he declared himself "very comfortable" with the version of the bill that passed today.
The three senators voting against the bill were José R. RodrÃguez, D-El Paso; Kirk Watson, D-Austin; and Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo.
[Tribpedia: Water Supply – Population growth and several droughts in the late 1990's and early 2000's led to more concern over Texas's water supply. Debate over the issue typically finds landowners on one side, environmentalists on the other. Environmental groups support restrictions on water pumping and water use, because droughts proved the risk of a low water supply, and because of the risk it poses for animal species. Landowners argue that pumping limitations could damage the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers. Much debate also surrounds the underground Edwards Aquifer, the only source of water for the San Antonio area. A legal battle that started in 1991 resulted in a ruling in favor of environmental group the Sierra Club, which warned against overpumping, because of its threat on endangered species and a contamination threat to the aquifer. In 1993, the Texas Legislature created a regional Edwards Aquifer Authority to regulate pumping from the aquifer and protect the reservoir from pollution. The law was upheld by the Texas Supreme Court in 1996. Landowners objected to the decision. The Legislature has declared that groundwater conservation districts are the preferred means to manage local groundwater resources. There are now more than 90 GCDs in the state. The Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District was formed in 2001 by special legislation.]
5 comments:
Good News! The Bill was watered down somewhat though, to placate the environmentalist members of the Senate. Still, the Bill does go further in codifying the ownership of groundwater by the landowner that sits atop it. Many of the environmental socialists would have you believe that the groundwater is owned by the State, as is surface water. This has never been true in Texas and hopefully now, it never will.
The problem is that the bill was watered down a lot. Claiming property owners have an ownership interest and then empowering groundwater districts to deny access and prohibit drilling is not exactly much of a right.
For example, after mentioning this "right", the legislation at then provides:
"§36.002 (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to:
(1) prohibit a district from promulgating a rule to limit the exercise of the right of the landowner to produce groundwater;
(2) 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"
So the first people to get screwed in other GCDs will be anyone in a platted subdivision for sure. Thank goodness HTGCD's enabling act was written to actually protect an ownership interest instead of giving lip service to it.
The WVWA PAC is circulating an e-mail that calls for the electorate to contact their representatives expressing their opposition to SB-332. It is ostensibly from Malcolm Harris, a Board Member and Lawyer for the WVWA PAC. This is further proof that the WVWA should lose their tax-free status since they are a Political Action Committee.
The e-mail is not going to really change anything since the Bill has been debated to death and the Republicans have the votes and Perry will sign it. Hide and watch.
This Bill is just political pandering by the Republican Party shitheads to the mindless private property ideologues who think God will refill the aquifers because they are chosen by Jesus Christ to run Texas.
In other words, these are some really delusional people who ignore science and history and common sense because somehow they believe they are exceptional God chosen Texans, i.e. real goofballs.
"Don't follow leaders,
watch for parking meters."
First Anonymous says:
"Many of the environmental socialists would have you believe that the groundwater is owned by the State".
No, Judas, environmentalists believe that water is owned by God and no one else. Which makes you and your mindless private property, water gluttony ilk heretics.
And if you aren't smart enough to figure it out, the politicians who passed this bill are the State - so they are in fact stating that the groundwater is state property -and they are willing to dole it out to the greedy as long as they are in office.
I swear you right wingers need to go back to school and re-learn government and political science. And while you are at it, check out science and geology while you're at it.
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