Tex. Codes » Water Code · TITLE 2. WATER ADMINISTRATION · SUBTITLE B. WATER RIGHTS · CHAPTER 11. WATER RIGHTS
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Tex. Water Code § 11.002 (2026)

Definitions

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Sec. 11.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter and in Chapter 12 of this code:

(1) "Commission" means the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

(2) "Board" means the Texas Water Development Board.

(3) "Executive director" means the executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

(4) "Beneficial use" means use of the amount of water which is economically necessary for a purpose authorized by this chapter, when reasonable intelligence and reasonable diligence are used in applying the water to that purpose and shall include conserved water.

(5) "Water right" means a right acquired under the laws of this state to impound, divert, or use state water.

(6) "Appropriator" means a person who has made beneficial use of any water in a lawful manner under the provisions of any act of the legislature before the enactment of Chapter 171, General Laws, Acts of the 33rd Legislature, 1913, as amended, and who has filed with the State Board of Water Engineers a record of his appropriation as required by the 1913 Act, as amended, or a person who makes or has made beneficial use of any water within the limitations of a permit lawfully issued by the commission or one of its predecessors.

(7) Renumbered as subd. (6) by Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 795, Sec. 1.003, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.

(8) "Conservation" means:

(A) the development of water resources; and

(B) those practices, techniques, and technologies that will reduce the consumption of water, reduce the loss or waste of water, improve the efficiency in the use of water, or increase the recycling and reuse of water so that a water supply is made available for future or alternative uses.

(9) "Conserved water" means that amount of water saved by a holder of an existing permit, certified filing, or certificate of adjudication through practices, techniques, and technologies that would otherwise be irretrievably lost to all consumptive beneficial uses arising from storage, transportation, distribution, or application.

(10) "Surplus water" means water in excess of the initial or continued beneficial use of the appropriator.

(11) "River basin" means a river or coastal basin designated by the board as a river basin under Section 16.051. The term does not include waters originating in the bays or arms of the Gulf of Mexico.

(12) "Agriculture" means any of the following activities:

(A) cultivating the soil to produce crops for human food, animal feed, or planting seed or for the production of fibers;

(B) the practice of floriculture, viticulture, silviculture, and horticulture, including the cultivation of plants in containers or nonsoil media, by a nursery grower;

(C) raising, feeding, or keeping animals for breeding purposes or for the production of food or fiber, leather, pelts, or other tangible products having a commercial value;

(D) raising or keeping equine animals;

(E) wildlife management;

(F) planting cover crops, including cover crops cultivated for transplantation, or leaving land idle for the purpose of participating in any governmental program or normal crop or livestock rotation procedure; and

(G) aquaculture, as defined by Section 134.001, Agriculture Code.

(13) "Agricultural use" means any use or activity involving agriculture, including irrigation.

(14) "Nursery grower" means a person who grows more than 50 percent of the products that the person either sells or leases, regardless of the variety sold, leased, or grown. For the purpose of this definition, "grow" means the actual cultivation or propagation of the product beyond the mere holding or maintaining of the item prior to sale or lease and typically includes activities associated with the production or multiplying of stock such as the development of new plants from cuttings, grafts, plugs, or seedlings.

(15) "Environmental flow analysis" means the application of a scientifically derived process for predicting the response of an ecosystem to changes in instream flows or freshwater inflows.

(16) "Environmental flow regime" means a schedule of flow quantities that reflects seasonal and yearly fluctuations that typically would vary geographically, by specific location in a watershed, and that are shown to be adequate to support a sound ecological environment and to maintain the productivity, extent, and persistence of key aquatic habitats in and along the affected water bodies.

(17) "Environmental flow standards" means those requirements adopted by the commission under Section 11.1471.

(18) "Advisory group" means the environmental flows advisory group.

(19) "Science advisory committee" means the Texas environmental flows science advisory committee.

(20) "Best management practices" means those voluntary efficiency measures developed by the commission and the board that save a quantifiable amount of water, either directly or indirectly, and that can be implemented within a specified time frame.

(21) "Utility commission" means the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

Amended by Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2207, ch. 870, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1977; Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 133, Sec. 1.01; Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 795, Sec. 1.003, eff. Sept. 1, 1985; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 3, Sec. 1.057, eff. Aug. 12, 1991; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1010, Sec. 2.02, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 966, Sec. 2.01, eff. Sept. 1, 2001; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1234, Sec. 11, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Amended by:

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1351 (H.B. 3), Sec. 1.04, eff. September 1, 2007.

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1352 (H.B. 4), Sec. 4, eff. June 15, 2007.

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1430 (S.B. 3), Sec. 1.04, eff. September 1, 2007.

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1430 (S.B. 3), Sec. 2.04, eff. September 1, 2007.

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 87 (S.B. 1969), Sec. 24.001, eff. September 1, 2009.

Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1021 (H.B. 2694), Sec. 5.01, eff. September 1, 2011.

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 170 (H.B. 1600), Sec. 2.05, eff. September 1, 2013.

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 171 (S.B. 567), Sec. 5, eff. September 1, 2013.

Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1097 (H.B. 3735), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2017.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 12 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1979–2026 · leading case: City of Frisco v. Texas Water Rights Comm'n, 579 S.W.2d 66 (Tex. Civ. App.—Austin 1979).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
City of Frisco v. Texas Water Rights Comm'n, 579 S.W.2d 66 (Tex. Civ. App.—Austin 1979). · cites it 2× “” Texas Water Code §§ 11.002(5), 11.025, 11.”
City of Marshall v. City of Uncertain, 206 S.W.3d 97 (Tex. 2006). “” TEX. WATER CODE § 11.002(4). . In a letter to former Lieutenant Governor Bill Ratliff, who had inquired whether the Commission had authority to grant a request for a public hearing, the executive director noted that "[s]ection 11.”
Edwards Aquifer Auth. & the State of Texas v. Burrell Day, 369 S.W.3d 814 (Tex. 2012). “03(4); see also Tex Water Code § 11.002(4) ("'Beneficial use' means use of the amount of water which is economically necessary for a purpose authorized by this chapter, when reasonable intelligence and reasonable diligence are used in applying the water to that purpose and shall…”
Edwards Aquifer Auth. v. Bragg, 421 S.W.3d 118 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2013). “03(4) (defining “beneficial use” as “the use of the amount of water that is economically necessary for a purpose authorized by law, when reasonable intelligence and reasonable diligence are used in applying the water to that purpose”); see also Tex. WateR Code § 11.002(4) (“…”
Texas Comm'n on Env't Quality & Guadalupe-Blanco River Auth. v. Nat'l Wildlife Fed'n, No. 15-24-00050-CV (Tex. App.—15th Dist. Jan. 28, 2025). · cites it 4× “12, 17 TEX. WATER CODE § 11.002(16).............”
HMW Special Util. Dist. of Harris & Montgomery Counties v. Pub. Util. Comm'n of Texas, No. 03-21-00234-CV (Tex. App.—Austin Feb. 24, 2023). · cites it 2× “Laws 725 , 731 (codified at Tex. Water Code § 11.002); Act of May 14, 2013, 83d Leg.”
In re the Contests of the City of Eagle Pass, 680 S.W.2d 853 (Tex. App.—Austin 1984). “) is limited not only to the amount specifically appropriated but also to the amount which is being or can be beneficially used for the purposes specified in the appropriation, and all water not so used is considered not appropriated, (emphasis added) Texas Water Code §…”
Brazos River Auth. & the State of Texas v. City of Houston & Sylvester Turner, 628 S.W.3d 920 (Tex. App.—Austin 2021). “See Tex. Water Code §§ 11.002(5) (defining “[w]ater right” to mean “a right acquired under the laws of this state to impound, divert, or use state water”), .”
Texas Comm'n on Env't Quality & Guadalupe-Blanco River Auth. v. Nat'l Wildlife Fed'n, No. 15-24-00050-CV (Mar. 10, 2026). “” Tex. Water Code § 11.002(17). “Environmental flow analysis” means the application of a scientifically derived process for predicting the response of an ecosystem to changes in instream flows or freshwater inflows.”
Edwards Aquifer Auth. v. Bragg, No. 04-11-00018-CV (Tex. App.—San Antonio Nov. 13, 2013). “03(4) (defining “beneficial use” as “the use of the amount of water that is economically necessary for a purpose authorized by law, when reasonable intelligence and reasonable diligence are used in applying the water to that purpose”); see also TEX. WATER CODE § 11.002(4)…”
Edwards Aquifer Auth. v. Bragg, No. 04-11-00018-CV (Tex. App.—San Antonio Aug. 28, 2013). “03(4) (defining “beneficial use” as “the use of the amount of water that is economically necessary for a purpose authorized by law, when reasonable intelligence and - 24 - 04-11-00018-CV reasonable diligence are used in applying the water to that purpose”); see also TEX. WATER…”
Untitled Texas Attorney Gen. Opinion, No. JC-539 (Tex. Att'y Gen. July 2, 2002). “under natural conditions,” but not including “the processing of plant or animal products after harvesting”); TEX.WATERCODEANN. § 11.002( 12) (Vernon Supp.”
Tex. Water Code § 11.002(16): 1 case
Texas Comm'n on Env't Quality & Guadalupe-Blanco River Auth. v. Nat'l Wildlife Fed'n, No. 15-24-00050-CV (Tex. App.—15th Dist. Jan. 28, 2025). “12, 17 TEX. WATER CODE § 11.002(16).............”
Tex. Water Code § 11.002(17): 1 case
Texas Comm'n on Env't Quality & Guadalupe-Blanco River Auth. v. Nat'l Wildlife Fed'n, No. 15-24-00050-CV (Mar. 10, 2026). “” Tex. Water Code § 11.002(17). “Environmental flow analysis” means the application of a scientifically derived process for predicting the response of an ecosystem to changes in instream flows or freshwater inflows.”
Tex. Water Code § 11.002(4): 5 cases
City of Marshall v. City of Uncertain, 206 S.W.3d 97 (Tex. 2006). “” TEX. WATER CODE § 11.002(4). . In a letter to former Lieutenant Governor Bill Ratliff, who had inquired whether the Commission had authority to grant a request for a public hearing, the executive director noted that "[s]ection 11.”
Edwards Aquifer Auth. & the State of Texas v. Burrell Day, 369 S.W.3d 814 (Tex. 2012). “03(4); see also Tex Water Code § 11.002(4) ("'Beneficial use' means use of the amount of water which is economically necessary for a purpose authorized by this chapter, when reasonable intelligence and reasonable diligence are used in applying the water to that purpose and shall…”
Edwards Aquifer Auth. v. Bragg, 421 S.W.3d 118 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2013). “03(4) (defining “beneficial use” as “the use of the amount of water that is economically necessary for a purpose authorized by law, when reasonable intelligence and reasonable diligence are used in applying the water to that purpose”); see also Tex. WateR Code § 11.002(4) (“…”
Edwards Aquifer Auth. v. Bragg, No. 04-11-00018-CV (Tex. App.—San Antonio Nov. 13, 2013). “03(4) (defining “beneficial use” as “the use of the amount of water that is economically necessary for a purpose authorized by law, when reasonable intelligence and reasonable diligence are used in applying the water to that purpose”); see also TEX. WATER CODE § 11.002(4)…”
Edwards Aquifer Auth. v. Bragg, No. 04-11-00018-CV (Tex. App.—San Antonio Aug. 28, 2013). “03(4) (defining “beneficial use” as “the use of the amount of water that is economically necessary for a purpose authorized by law, when reasonable intelligence and - 24 - 04-11-00018-CV reasonable diligence are used in applying the water to that purpose”); see also TEX. WATER…”
Tex. Water Code § 11.002(5): 4 cases
City of Frisco v. Texas Water Rights Comm'n, 579 S.W.2d 66 (Tex. Civ. App.—Austin 1979). “” Texas Water Code §§ 11.002(5), 11.025, 11.”
Texas Comm'n on Env't Quality & Guadalupe-Blanco River Auth. v. Nat'l Wildlife Fed'n, No. 15-24-00050-CV (Tex. App.—15th Dist. Jan. 28, 2025). “12, 17 TEX. WATER CODE § 11.002(16).............”
In re the Contests of the City of Eagle Pass, 680 S.W.2d 853 (Tex. App.—Austin 1984). “) is limited not only to the amount specifically appropriated but also to the amount which is being or can be beneficially used for the purposes specified in the appropriation, and all water not so used is considered not appropriated, (emphasis added) Texas Water Code §…”
Brazos River Auth. & the State of Texas v. City of Houston & Sylvester Turner, 628 S.W.3d 920 (Tex. App.—Austin 2021). “See Tex. Water Code §§ 11.002(5) (defining “[w]ater right” to mean “a right acquired under the laws of this state to impound, divert, or use state water”), .”
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