Category Archives: Water Law

November 21, 2025 Weekly Round Up

Posted on by

It has been a remarkably busy few weeks for agricultural law around the country.  Here are some of the biggest stories in the news. * Government shutdown ends, Farm Bill programs extended. After 43 days, the federal government has re-opened.  Included in the Continuing Resolution to fund the government through January 2026 was language that will extend the existing Farm Bill programs for another 12 months. [Read article here.] * New WOTUS Rule proposed.  As I have reported numerous times over the past decade, yet again, the Environmental Protection Agency… Read More →

September 12, 2025 Weekly Round Up

Posted on by

It has been another couple of busy weeks for agricultural law news around the country.  Let’s get caught up. *Federal judge dismisses challenge to Texas’ new foreign ownership law.  A federal judge in the Southern District of Texas has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of SB 17, the law recently passed by the Texas Legislature prohibiting citizens, businesses and governments from certain countries from owning real property in Texas.  The court held that the plaintiffs, three Chinese citizens, lacked standing to bring their claims as they are… Read More →

August 29, 2025 Weekly Round Up

Posted on by

We are here with our last weekly round up for the month of August.  Things have not slowed down in the world of agricultural law. *EPA extends comment period for dicamba registrations.  The EPA has extended the comment period on the three over-the-top dicamba registrations to September 6, 2025.  [Read article here.  Comment here.] *Texas’ most infamous groundwater lawsuits article published.  The Texas Water Resources Institute published a great article outlining Texas’ most infamous groundwater lawsuits.  If you’re into Texas water law, you don’t want to miss this! … Read More →

August 15, 2025 Weekly Round Up

Posted on by

It has been a big few weeks on the agricultural law front!  We’ve got updates on several cases we’ve been following and news on new lawsuits around the country. * Federal court vacates listing of lesser prairie-chicken.  The US District Court for the Western District of Texas had vacated the Endangered Species Act listing of the lesser prairie chicken.  I will have a full blog post explaining the ruling in detail on Monday.  [Read article here.] * Federal court upholds emissions reporting exception for farms.  The United States… Read More →

August 1, 2025 Weekly Round Up

Posted on by

It is hard to believe we have made it to August!  Here is the rundown of some of the ag law stories in the news! EPA proposes approval of three over-the-top dicamba labels.  The EPA published a proposed re-registration of three over-the-top dicamba products for use in cotton and soybeans.  The products are: Engenia, Tavium, and KHNP0090 (formerly Xtendimax).  The proposed registrations will contain a number of additional restrictions, including a prohibition on aerial application, a 240-foot buffer, and additional mitigation steps.  Currently, public comment is open through… Read More →

July 3, 2025 Weekly Round Up

Posted on by

Happy Independence Day to all!  We hope you all have an enjoyable holiday. We’re here to recap some of the biggest ag law stories in the news over the past few weeks.  Let’s get started! * Texas Supreme Court decides Cactus Water Services v. COG Operating.  The biggest news in Texas has to be the Court’s decision regarding produced water.  This case asked the question of whether produced water–water that is extracted with oil and gas production–belongs to the surface owner or the mineral lessee. The Court held that… Read More →

Texas Supreme Court: Produced Water Conveys to Mineral Lessee

Posted on by

The Texas Supreme Court ruled last week in Cactus Water Services, LLC v. COG Operating, LLC. [Read Opinion here.]  This opinion is extremely important for all Texas landowners as it was the first time the Supreme Court weighed in on who owns produced water in Texas. Background This case involves 37,000 acres of land in Reeves County. Mineral Leases and Production COG Operating acquired four mineral leases from two surface owners for the land.  The leases granted COG the right to explore, produce, and keep “oil and gas” or… Read More →

May 16, 2025 Weekly Round Up

Posted on by

It has been a wild few weeks for agricultural law news!  Let’s get caught up on some of the biggest stories. * Live animal imports suspended along Southern border.  On May 11, 2025, United States Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, suspended live animal imports of cattle, horses, and bison through US ports of entry along the southern border due to concerns about the spread of New World Screwworm (NWS) in Mexico.  At that time, the NWS had been detected 700 miles from the U.S./Mexico border. [Read press release… Read More →

March 21, 2025 Weekly Round Up

Posted on by

We’ve reached another Friday!  There is certainly no shortage of agricultural law news recently. * Synagro releases independent study in Johnson County, TX concluding fertilizer did not cause PFAS contamination.  You may recall from this prior blog post that Johnson County landowners have filed several lawsuits related to PFAS contamination of their land allegedly caused by Synagro biosolid fertilizer.  This week Synagro issued a press release announcing the results of an independent study conducted on the Johnson County land.  The study, done by Parsons Corporation and Dr. Linda… Read More →

March 7, 2025 Weekly Round Up

Posted on by

Happy March!  We are here with another rundown of some of the biggest agricultural law stories in the news from the past couple of weeks. * Treasury department announces suspension of Corporate Transparency Act reporting for US citizens and domestic companies.  It would not be a weekly round up if we did not include news about the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).  The US Department of Treasury announced that it will not be enforcing or assessing penalties for those failing to comply with the reporting requirements of the CTA at… Read More →