Shared Water Well Leads to Lawsuit

Texas Water Lawyer & Texas Water Rights Attorney Trey Wilson wrote:

We settled a fascinating lawsuit today that involved the intersection of water law and real estate principles. The case involved a water well shared by neighbors, but not on common property or under common ownership.  No written agreement concerning the well water was ever entered.

As frequently happens, a dispute arose when the well experienced water supply problems, with costly repairs needed.

When the owners of the property on which the well is located cut the lines to the neighboring property, a lawsuit was filed and Temporary Restraining Order entered. In their suit filed in Bexar County, Texas, the neighbors asserted an easement to the well, pipeline and water.  They also sought court declarations establishing an ownership interest in the well.

Our firm was hired to represent the well owner, who denied the existence of any easement, and asserted that the neighbor maintained no ownership interest in the well or groundwater it produced.

Fortunately for the parties, the case was settled, and a path for moving forward was charted.  Protracted litigation of this type of dispute cold have been costly, and in Texas -- where private property rights are sacrosanct --  battles over land and water can rage for years.

Disputes over shared water wells and shared roads are common in Texas.  Many (indeed, most) such disputes can be avoided with written agreements setting-forth the parties' rights and responsibilities in water wells, roadways and other shared real property.  Our law firm drafts Water Well and Groundwater License Agreements, water leases, and other documents establishing neighbors' legal relationships in real estate and water.

In those instances where resolutions cannot be reached, we stand ready to litigate water well, groundwater, easement and access disputes.