1. What Are Water Rights in Texas?
In Texas, groundwater (the water underground in aquifers) is treated differently from surface water (like rivers and lakes).
Under Texas law, a landowner owns the groundwater beneath their land as real property — meaning it’s considered part of your property. This gives you the right to drill and produce water from beneath your land.
However, landowners do not have a guaranteed right to capture a set amount of the water beneath their land — and regulations or local rules can affect how and how much water gets pumped.