Texans are getting serious about the marketing of water, and many are concerned that the old cornerstone of Texas water law, "the rule of capture", which holds that a landowner may pump as much water as he wants from underneath his private property, will clear the way for overpumping.

There is no reason for folks to work themselves into a frenzy, because we already have all of the tools we need to manage groundwater in Texas. Before we overreact on the regulatory front or dash off to the courthouse, let's take a little time for some clear thinking.

Look at Section 36.002 of the Texas Water Code. This is what it says in part: "Groundwater conservation districts ... are the state's preferred method of groundwater management." The districts, because they are under local control, can protect and manage underground water through the use of pumping limits.

Texas is a big state that encompasses both the forests of East Texas, where 50 inches of rain fall annually, and the desertlike conditions in West Texas. Rainfall totals and groundwater supplies vary greatly across our state. To expect the Legislature or the courts to impose a regulatory solution that fits every area of our state defies logic.

Most groundwaer pumped in Texas isn't even under the rule of capture. In 1998, there were 44 groundwater conservation districts accounting for 75 percent of the groundwater pumped in Texas. Since then, 40 more districts have been formed. The state already has the authority to require a disrict to be created in an area that will have critical groundwater problems in the next 25 years.

Only three court cases in the last 100 years have challenged the rule of capture. If the rule is harming Texas landowners, why aren't the courts clogged with cases to overturn it? The reason is that groundwater conservation districts have acted as a counterbalance to irresponsible pumping.

There is no way to shoehorn every corner of the state into a "one-size-fits-all regulatory program". The local control of groundwater, implemented by people who will have to live with the consequences, is the right approach.

Groundwater doesn't need to be managed everywhere in Texas. Conservation disricts allow water management to be applied where it truly is needed. All of the major groundwater projects proposed in Texas are within or adjacent to a district. Areas not part of a district easily can join an existing district or form one.

At least 100 years of Texas groundwater law are based on "the rule of capture". If that principle is abandoned needlessly, lawsuits will jam the courts. When the state assumed the regulation of surface water in the 1960s, it took 20 years of litigation to resolve the issues and develop the case law for the orderly appropriation of surface water. there is no need for that kind of confusion with groundwater.

Local conservation districts are the most effective way to address groundwater problems in Texas.