 Although Texas is blessed with a bountiful supply of water, we have reached a crossroad in providing water for our growing population. In the past century, we quenched our growing thirst by exploring new aquifers and creating reservoirs to harness the state's powerful system of rivers and streams. During that time, our water law encouraged aquifer pumping and reservoir development. Today, demand for water continues to accelerate while our supplies have little room to grow. To meet this challenge, our legislature is creating laws that focus on conservation, recycling, drought planning and better management. Although all water is interconnected, Texas law recognizes three distinct types of water based on their geological container, diffused surface water, surface water and groundwater. Each type has different rules controlling ownership and management. Diffused surface water comes from rainfall and is often called storm water, drainage water or surface runoff. It does not flow in any defined water course. In its natural state, this water flows across land from higher to lower elevations. Diffused surface water includes the rainwater that flows across yards, runs down subdivision streets, stands in parking lots or flows across pastures. This water remains the property of the landowner so long as it does not flow across property line or enter a natural water course. When drainage water flows into a creek, canyon, ravine, stream or river, it then belongs to the state. Surface water flowing in natural rivers and streams is a vital resource for all regions of Texas, but it's especially important for cities and urban areas. Nearly two-thirds of all Texas surface water is used by cities and industries. Because river and stream flow vary throughout the state, reservoirs have been built to provide a more reliable and dependable source of water. All told, the Texas River System has 5,700 reservoirs of those 210 or major reservoirs which hold more than 5,000 acre feet of water. However, 98% of our reservoir water is held in only 75 of the state's major reservoirs. The state of Texas owns and manages surface water. State water is defined as an ordinary flow, underflow, storm water, flood water and rain water of every flowing river, natural stream, canyon, ravine, lake and watershed in the state. A natural stream or river is defined as a water course that has a channel delineated by a riverbed and banks. State owned surface water also includes the tide water of every bay or arm of the Gulf of Mexico. Springs and spring water become state owned when they flow to the surface and enter a natural river or stream. Anyone seeking to use state owned surface water must get a permit from the Texas Commission on environmental quality. The commission may grant a permit only if there is unappropriated water available in the river. The water will be beneficially used. Existing water rights will not be harmed. The proposed use is not detrimental to the public welfare and reasonable diligence that will be used to avoid waste and conserve water. In addition, the commission must also consider the effects of the permit on bays and estuaries, existing in-stream uses, fish and wildlife habitat and water quality. If all of these conditions are satisfied, the commission will issue a water use permit. The water permits issued by the TCEQ are governed by the doctrine of prior appropriation. This doctrine determines who can use water during drought when there is not enough water to satisfy all water users. Under this doctrine, all of the state surface water permits have been awarded on a time of application seniority basis with the earliest permits having the most seniority. For example, a landowner who has a 1902 seniority date will be entitled to their full amount of water before a landowner with a 1920 seniority date. But this means if there are a hundred water permit holders on a river and there is only enough water in the river to satisfy ten, the ten most senior permits would get all the water and the other ninety would have to go without. To date, more than 6,000 surface water permits have been issued throughout the state. Because irrigators, cities, industries and others have been claiming water for more than 120 years, most of the natural flow of rivers and streams is already allocated. Very little surface water remains to be claimed. According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, twelve out of fifteen major rivers are fully appropriated. There is no water available for new appropriations in the stretches of the Canadian, red, cypress, Sabine, Naches, Trinity, Brazos, Colorado, Guadalupe, San Antonio, Nueces and Rio Grande rivers. Today, if you want to acquire a water right on these fully appropriated rivers, you will have to buy the water right from someone who is willing to sell. There is a noteworthy exception to getting a permit to use state-owned surface water. Do not need a permit to build a pond or stock tank and use surface water to fill the tank provided the water is used for a domestic livestock or wildlife. These ponds may impound up to 200 acre feet of surface water. A permit is required however for any pond, stock tank or reservoir built on a stream that averages more than 30 feet in width regardless of the tank's size, volume or purpose. This provision applies only to state-owned surface water. If the stock tank captures diffused surface water, such as rainwater, it may hold more than 200 acre feet of water and no permit is required. Aquifers are a third type of geological container defining Texas water law. The groundwater they hold is a vital resource for Texas. Groundwater provides more than 55% of the total water used in many counties. Although the state has more than 30 different aquifers, 97% of the groundwater comes from only 9 major aquifers. Groundwater is important not only for agriculture but for our cities as well. For example, aquifers supply water for Amarillo, Bryan, College Station, El Paso, Euston, Lubbock and San Antonio. In contrast to state-owned surface water, groundwater is privately owned. This law was adopted in 1904 by the Texas Supreme Court when it determined that the English Common Law rule of absolute ownership, often called the rule of capture, would be used to establish ownership and control of groundwater. The capture rule allows landowners to capture, use or sell all the water they can pump from beneath the surface of their land. The often unappreciated side effect of this rule is that landowners are not protected from excessive pumping by a neighbor. There are some exceptions to the rule of capture, when the pumping is done to maliciously harm a neighbor, the water is wasted. Negligent pumping causes adjoining land to subside, or a slant well is drilled that crosses a property line. The courts have granted limited rights to restrict, limit or stop pumping. As many rural landowners have discovered, the rule of capture protects the biggest pump and the deepest well. However, the legislature has allowed locally established groundwater conservation districts to modify the rule of capture. The first local district, the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District, was created in 1951. Today, more than 80 groundwater conservation districts have been established throughout the state. Although their powers and duties vary, groundwater conservation districts must prepare and implement a management plan, and register and keep drilling records for wells. Although they are not mandated to do so, districts may also require that wells be spaced a certain distance from each other, and they may establish pumping limits for certain types of non-domestic wells. Although groundwater conservation districts cannot prohibit water from being exported beyond their boundaries, they can't somewhat regulate this activity to protect local supplies. We stand in a crossroad that offers daunting challenges in the management of both surface and groundwater resources. As times have changed, we have changed our rules, allocating water resources in the best interest of all Texans. Today and in the future, our laws must continue to evolve and find a way to provide this limited supply to a rapidly growing population with a big thirst for water. Our laws must successfully distribute the existing water supplies so that we can move beyond this crossroad to an economically and environmentally promising tomorrow.