July 15, 2019 – In Texas, water law generally applies to either groundwater or surface water rights. Surface water is defined in the Texas Water Code Section 11.021 as “water under ordinary flow, underflow and tides of every flowing river, natural stream, lake, bay, arm of the Gulf of Mexico, and stormwater, floodwater or rain water of every river, natural stream, canyon, ravine, depression, and watershed in the state.” Diffused surface water is water on the surface of one’s land that has not yet entered a ‘watercourse’ and that instead is owned by the owner of the land over which it flows.
