A landowners’ interest in the water under his land is a vested interest that gives him a constitutionally protected right to drill and produce groundwater, delegates said at Texas Farm Bureau’s 77th annual meeting in Waco.

With the Lone Star State’s booming population and growing demands on resources, water will take center stage as the Legislature convenes in January. Voting delegates from 147 county Farm Bureaus prepared the state’s largest farm organization’s policy for the upcoming legislative session.

Delegates recognized, however, that water is a finite resource and will require some regulation to protect local supplies. They suggested ownership interest in and the vested right to produce groundwater “may be regulated in a reasonable manner to protect the groundwater resources of the area,” the new TFB policy continued. “We do not believe the ownership interest in groundwater gives the landowner a vested right to a specific quantity of groundwater under their land.”

Delegates also elected Kenneth Dierschke to his ninth consecutive one-year term as president of Texas Farm Bureau.

“It has been a great honor to represent you for the last eight years,” Dierschke said at convention’s end. “Together we can overcome challenges and create opportunities for the farm, ranch and rural families of Texas.”

Commodity indemnity program






In other state policy, delegates:


