{"id":1715,"date":"2014-07-09T03:38:19","date_gmt":"2014-07-09T08:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/?p=1715"},"modified":"2026-04-17T15:32:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T20:32:19","slug":"texas-water-law-in-the-national-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2014\/07\/09\/texas-water-law-in-the-national-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Water Law in the National News"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week, Texas water law has been prominently in the national news.\u00a0 \u00a0NBC published a story called “The Last Drop: America’s Breadbasket Faces Dire Water Crisis.”\u00a0 [Read article here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo via Jennifer Blackburn Photography<\/p><\/div>\n

This article discussed the prolonged drought in the Texas Panhandle and the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer.\u00a0 The article outlines\u00a0numerous causes of the water crisis, including drought, population growth, agricultural irrigation, and Texas\u00a0water law.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0article accurately explains Texas groundwater law, governed by the right of capture, which provides that a landowner owns the groundwater beneath his property.\u00a0 Importantly, as discussed previously on this blog<\/a>, there are important limitations to this right including common law principles and the authority of Groundwater Conservation Districts in much of the state.\u00a0 Although the article glossed over these limitations, they are critical for Texas landowners and producers to understand.<\/p>\n

Finally, I appreciated the\u00a0article’s realization of the value of an agricultural livelihood and community as well as the need for Texas producers to help feed and clothe the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, Texas water law has been prominently in the national news.\u00a0 \u00a0NBC published a story called “The Last Drop: America’s Breadbasket Faces Dire Water Crisis.”\u00a0 [Read article here.] This article discussed the prolonged drought in the Texas Panhandle and the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer.\u00a0 The article outlines\u00a0numerous causes of the water crisis, including drought, population growth, agricultural irrigation, and Texas\u00a0water law. The\u00a0article accurately explains Texas groundwater law, governed by the right of capture, which provides that a landowner owns the groundwater beneath his property.\u00a0 Importantly, as… Read More →<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2444,"featured_media":939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-water-law"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTexas Water Law in the National News - Texas Agriculture Law<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2014\/07\/09\/texas-water-law-in-the-national-news\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Texas Water Law in the National News - Texas Agriculture Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This week, Texas water law has been prominently in the national news.\u00a0 \u00a0NBC published a story called “The Last Drop: America’s Breadbasket Faces Dire Water Crisis.”\u00a0 [Read article here.] This article discussed the prolonged drought in the Texas Panhandle and the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer.\u00a0 The article outlines\u00a0numerous causes of the water crisis, including drought, population growth, agricultural irrigation, and Texas\u00a0water law. The\u00a0article accurately explains Texas groundwater law, governed by the right of capture, which provides that a landowner owns the groundwater beneath his property.\u00a0 Importantly, as... 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