Texas Water Glossary

Acre-foot – The amount of water that would cover an acre of land one foot deep (325,851 gallons). It is estimated that on average an acre-foot of water can support the annual indoor and outdoor needs of between one and two urban households.

Aquifer – A geologic formation that stores water, aquifers may yield significant quantities of water to wells and springs and this water is often utilized as a primary source for municipal, industrial, irrigation and other uses.

Beneficial use – Use of the amount of water which is economically necessary for a purpose authorized by a permit, when reasonable intelligence and reasonable diligence are used in applying the water to that purpose and shall include conserved water.

Brush control – The selective control, removal, or reduction of noxious brush such as mesquite, prickly pear, salt cedar, or other phreatophytes that consume water to a degree that is detrimental to water conservation; and the revegetation of land on which this brush has been controlled.

Conserved water – 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.

Desalination – Specific treatment processes to demineralize seawater or brackish (saline) water.

Developed water –New waters added to a stream or other source of water supply through artificial means.

Diffused surface water – Water which, in its natural state, occurs on the surface of the ground prior to its entry into a watercourse, lake or pond.

Groundwater – Water occurring under the surface of the land other than underflow of a surface water river or stream.

Interbasin transfer – Transfers of water from one river basin to another.

Surface water –Also known as “public” or “state” water. Water of the ordinary flow, underflow, and tides of every flowing river, natural stream, and lake, and of every bay or arm of the Gulf of Mexico. Also includes water that is imported from any source outside the boundaries of the state for use in the state and that is transported through the bed and banks of any navigable stream within the state or by utilizing any facilities owned or operated by the state. Additionally, state water injected into the ground for an aquifer storage and recovery project remains state water. State water does not include percolating groundwater; nor does it include diffuse surface rainfall runoff, groundwater seepage, or spring water before it reaches a watercourse.

Third-party impacts – Direct and indirect economic, social or environmental effects of a water transfer to a party other than the seller or buyer including other water rights holders.

Watercourse –The definition of a watercourse comes from case law. In Hoefs v. Short (1925) the Texas Supreme Court approved the following principles as to the legal requirements for a watercourse: It must be a definite stream of water in a definite natural channel, with well defined bed and banks, from a definite source or sources of supply.

Water table – The upper surface of the saturated zone that determines the water level in a well in an unconfined aquifer.