Sharing the Common Pool by Porter Charles R.;Sansom Andrew;

Author:Porter, Charles R.;Sansom, Andrew; [Porter Jr. Charles R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Published: 2014-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Part Five

WHAT SHOULD GUIDE WATER POLICY

“THE COMMON GOOD” OR PRIVATE RIGHTS?

PUBLIC POLICY DEBATES IN THE RECENT PAST

Difficult public policy issues relating to water have faced Texans for many generations. The challenging choices have not necessarily been between right and wrong; typically, the positions and arguments of all the parties involved in water disputes could be considered reasonable.

FOUR TALES FROM THE COMMON POOL

The resolutions to those disputes have most often involved questions about who owns the water, who can use the water, and who is liable when one party uses up the water available to another party. Some of the legislative decisions and court rulings in the past seem to make common sense and create good public policy, while other decisions and rulings seem to defy all logic.

Tale #1: The Case of the Biggest Pump

Who could have known that an obscure lawsuit over rights to underground water in a small town in north Texas at the start of the twentieth century would begin a cascade of events that is still unfolding today in the courts, in state government, and in people’s daily lives?1 The ultimate ruling in this lawsuit, a lawsuit that did not merit even a single word in the local newspaper,2 is infamously known as the “rule of capture,” or “he who has the biggest pump gets the most or all of the water.” The rule of capture is one of the most confusing, and for some the most reviled, concepts in Texas water law today.

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