Abstract
Texas will need to adapt to a drier climate and reduced water supply in the 21st century as the negative hydrological effects of climate change continue. Rising temperatures will accelerate evaporation of surface water resources, which in turn both increases reliance on depletable groundwater resources and de creases the amount of surface water available for aquifer recharge. As a result, Texans who rely on either groundwater or surface water to meet their domestic water needs-particularly those in rural aid regions-may suffer as both quantities decrease in the coming decades. The practice of domestic water reuse presents one solution to a decreasing water supply by safely treating wastewater and creating a sustainable source of water to irrigate a household's garden or landscape without placing additional demand on existing water supplies. The practice of water reuse is by no means a new development; however; the primary focus has been city-level reuse and not household practices. This Article seeks to badge the information gap by highlighting and discussing the authorities relevant to domestic water reuse in Texas, including title 30, chapter 210 of the Texas Administrative Code and the water allocation doctrines of prior appropriation and rule of capture. This Article finds those authorities to be favorable to individual water reuse, however; this Article argues for regulatory and statutory amendments that will encourage and incentivize domestic water reuse. Amendments are essential if Texas wishes to make domestic water reuse-and drought-hardy sources of water-accessible to households in rural avid regions of Texas, where water reuse will undoubtedly be of great importance in the coming decades.
First Page
187
Custom Citation
Haley Varnadoe, Everything Is Bigger in Texas, including the Need to Incentivize and Implement Innovative Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems as a Method of Water Reuse, 25 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 187 (2022).