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WATERLAW AND THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE: A TEXAS EXAMPLE 1
Author(s) -
Tempter Otis W.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-1688.1973.tb01734.x
Subject(s) - water cycle , class (philosophy) , water resources , structural basin , drainage basin , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental science , hydrological modelling , law , computer science , water resource management , political science , geology , geography , climatology , geomorphology , geotechnical engineering , artificial intelligence , ecology , cartography , biology
Scientists usually regard all water as merely passing through, but in different phases of, the endless hydrologic cycle. The law divides water in the cycle into several different classes. Each is treated separately and generally without consideration of interconnections existing within the cycle. Different rules of law have arisen concerning the ownership and use of each legal class. Under Texas law several classes of surface and ground water are recognized, and weather modification efforts bring yet another class, atmospheric moisture, under consideration. It is instructive to follow water moving through the hydrologic cycle in the Nueces River basin, Texas, as a framework for discussing the substantial interconnections between the various legal classes of water and the difficulties that arise from attempts to apply different rules of law to each class. Strictures imposed by Texas water law can seriously interfer with coordinated, efficient use and management of water resources, as evidenced by the Nueces River basin. Well‐recognized, existing water rights in the several phases of the hydrologic cycle make change of these institutional constraints difficult to achieve.