After hearing from both sides in a years-long dispute between a South Plains ranch and the city of Lubbock, the Texas Supreme Court will consider whether a well-established provision in oil and gas law that protects landowners who don’t own the minerals beneath their property should also apply to those who don’t own the groundwater — or, perhaps, the wind.
The outcome of the court’s decision could have far-reaching implications for savvy water exporters and the state’s fast-growing, thirsty cities.
A lawyer for Coyote Lake Ranch argued Wednesday that the “accommodation doctrine” should apply in cases where an entity — Lubbock, in this case — wants to utilize its rights to groundwater that sits beneath the land that someone else — the ranch — owns and actively uses.
