Abstract
The social and economic effects of water scarcity are well known and beginning to become more prevalent in many communities. More and more frequently, Texas citizens are experiencing severe and prolonged drought, often supplementing surface water shortages with available groundwater. Addition ally, as populations increase, municipalities rely on groundwater resources to fill their growing needs. Citizens' of Texas have always recognized the importance of groundwater management and conservation and created a regulatory structure designed to manage groundwater resources at the local level through Groundwater Conservation Districts ("GCD"s). Texas's unique approach to groundwater management, the rule of capture, is here to stay after the Texas Supreme Court's decision in Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day. How ever, the court's decision to recognize ownership in place of groundwater limits GCDs' resource management abilities. In the aftermath of Day, when GCDs reduce or limit landowner's groundwater pumping through permits, GCDS must compensate them for their loss of property. However, most GCDs do not possess the requisite funding to accomplish any conservation goals, effectively ending any hope of implementing any conservation practices within the state. Without legislative action, Texas’s groundwater resources will remain unmanaged, further depleting one of the state's most precious resources. This article proposes several new conservation mechanisms the legislature and GCDs can implement to more effectively preserve groundwater resources will Texas, as well as sources of financing to accomplish those goals. The Texas legislature must take action to restore the managerial capabilities of GCDs and empower them to conserve groundwater resources In the state.
First Page
25
Custom Citation
Emily A. Fouts, A New Day: Empowering Groundwater Conservation Districts to Manage Groundwater in Texas, 24 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 25 (2020).