H20 : The New Oil

With the continuing drought and the strive to compete for more and more water, a recent Supreme Court ruling have turned a few heads. In this editorial by the Austin American Statesman, the authors questions the ruling that was made regarding how groundwater would be regulated under one's property. The ruling made it possible for property owners to pump as much water out underneath their land as possible. This has made regulating water essentially the same as regulating oil and gas. This ruling has also encouraged property owners to sue the water districts for compensation. There are 96 water districts in Texas. Each districts tries to strike a balance between a landowner's needs and the needs of other Texans. The ruling has a opened Pandora's Box in regards to the amount of litigation that ensue in the months ahead when landowners will catch onto this scheme. The regulators and landowners will fight over the meaning of "reasonable". What is fair for the landowner to use and how much will other Texans get. The authors try to pinpoint the logic behind this decision only to come out pondering what in the world were the justices thinking when they approved of this measure. Of course, the authors said it in a much nicer tone by filtering it with much more words. I concur with the authors about preserving property rights but what about the non property owners; do we cast them aside? Do we tell them to "go find their own water"? Is there a point where the government can step in to say, "hey you need to share with everyone else." I certainly believe so, ground water does not just flow beneath their land, but it connects with other sources and one landowner should not have the rights to take away all of that water for themselves. When will people realize that Texas is more than half desert and the need for water is not just a problem for landowners, but a problem for us all. I'm all about sharing but if landowners are gonna get greedy, then what is the point being nice to them? I'm not a mean person but i do hate greed.