Surface Water: Understanding the Legal Complexities

Описание: Todd Votteler, Editor-in-Chief of the Texas Water Journal, moderated this panel of Toby Baker, Commissioner of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; Austin water lawyer Doug Caroom; and Kevin Ward, General Manager of the Trinity River Authority of Texas. The panelists discussed the laws relating to ownership and use of surface water. In Texas all surface water is owned by the state with use determined by junior and senior water rights. Higher priority usage goes to whoever has owned a right to water for a longer period of time. Particularly during droughts, this system has proven inflexible, leading to both practical and legal challenges for water users statewide and for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state agency mandated by the Texas Legislature to implement state surface water policies. From the Rethinking Texas Water Policy conference hosted by the Bush School of Government at Texas A&M University, April 6, 2018.