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Could Texas Learn From California on Groundwater?

A recent analysis of groundwater rights and the "rule of capture" in Texas suggests the state could learn from California, which amended its groundwater rules, making them less tied to oil and gas policy.

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Jacob's Well, a spring in Wimberley.
Credit: Paddy Murphy

An analysis of groundwater rights and the "rule of capture" in Texas by the Texas Living Waters Project of the National Wildlife Foundation suggests that despite legal precedents in treating water similarly to oil and gas, a recent court ruling treating groundwater rights as different from the oil-and-gas "accommodation doctrine" makes future rulings less certain. According to the analysis, Texas could learn from California, which amended its groundwater rules, making them less tied to oil and gas policy. (Texas Living Waters)

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