Texas Land Is Hiding Something Under the Ground Most Buyers Never Check

Other options: Who Really Owns the Water Under Your Texas Land? (Quem é dono de verdade da água embaixo da sua terra no Texas?) Your Neighbor Can Drain Your Well in Texas. It's Legal. (Seu vizinho pode secar seu poço no Texas. E é legal.) Buying Land in Texas? Check Who Owns the Water First (Comprando terra no Texas? Veja primeiro quem é dono da água) Texas Water Is Being Sold Out From Under the Land (A água do Texas está sendo vendida por baixo da terra) The 1904 Rule That Still Decides Who Gets Texas Water (A regra de 1904 que ainda decide quem fica com a água do Texas) DESCRIPTION In 1904, a railroad in Denison, Texas, drilled a well, started pumping about 25,000 gallons a day, and a man named East watched his own well go dry. He sued and lost. That ruling, the rule of capture, still decides who gets the water under Texas land today. Walt walks through what every landowner and land buyer in Texas should know about water: Two kinds of water: surface water belongs to the state, but you can build a stock tank of up to 200 acre-feet without a permit. Groundwater belongs to you (Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day, 2012), but your neighbor can pump it too. Groundwater districts and the 10-acre rule: when a house or livestock well needs no permit. The Hill Country right now: Stage 3 drought, Jacob's Well at zero flow, and what a dry well costs you. The Ogallala: a quarter inch of recharge a year, about a foot of decline. How water gets sold off the land: T. Boone Pickens' $103 million deal and San Antonio's Vista Ridge pipeline. Severed water: the Coyote Lake Ranch case, and why the water owner can come onto your surface. A seven-point water checklist before you buy land, and why water belongs in the price. Proposition 4 and the Texas Water Fund: what $1 billion a year will and won't do. How deep is your well, and what part of Texas are you in? Tell Walt in the comments. He reads every one. CHAPTERS 0:00 Denison, 1904: the rule of capture 1:17 Two kinds of water 2:14 You own the groundwater (until someone pumps it) 3:20 Groundwater districts and the 10-acre rule 5:02 The Hill Country: the Trinity is dropping 6:43 The Ogallala: a quarter inch in, a foot out 7:57 Selling the water: Pickens and the cities 10:01 Severed water: the water estate 11:43 Seven things to check before you buy 13:51 Water is in the price 14:44 Proposition 4 and the Texas Water Fund 15:48 Putting it all together SOURCES Houston & Texas Central Railway v. East (Texas Supreme Court, 1904), via the Texas State Library and the Texas Water Development Board Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day (Texas Supreme Court, 2012) Coyote Lake Ranch v. City of Lubbock (Texas Supreme Court, 2016) Texas Water Code 36.117 (exempt wells) and 11.142 (stock tanks); Texas A&M AgriLife Extension water law guides Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, drought update (October 8, 2026); Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District drought stages Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District (Ogallala water levels); Texas Tech University Ogallala research (2026) Canadian River Municipal Water Authority / Mesa Water sale (2011), via KCBD and the City of Amarillo Vista Ridge pipeline, via The Texas Tribune Texas A&M Real Estate Center regional land prices (3Q 2025) Proposition 4 (2025), via The Texas Tribune and the Texas Water Development Board Well and pump costs are typical ranges from Hill Country drillers and land guides; get local quotes. This video is general information, not legal advice. Have a Texas real estate attorney read the deeds before you buy land.