1. Changing Owners of Water Rights
Water Rights Compliance Assurance Team (WRCAT)
How to discover water rights and streamline the resource transfer process.
Water Availability Division
Water Rights Compliance Assurance Team (WRCAT)

2. Overview What is a Water Right? Where are they located?
Change of Ownership Process.
Online and In-person Resources for documents.
Outline of presentation
Today’s focus: how to see where water rights are and how to get the transfer completed quickly and efficiently
Online resources: Water Well viewer, the active table on the TCEQ webpage, the GIS models available with point data.

3. What is a Water Right? Texas Water Code (TWC) §11.002(5)
“A right acquired under the laws of Texas to impound, divert, or use state water.”
State Water is:
“The 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, and the stormwater, floodwater, and rainwater of every river, natural stream and watercourse in the state.”
If you use state water in any way, then you need a water right.
There are a few exceptions as it pertains to impoundments through the TWC §
A water right is still required to divert from a TWC § exempt reservoir for non-exempt purposes.

4. Texas River Basins Map of Texas River Basins.
Gis Data can be located at

5. Water Rights By Basin Basin # of WRs 01 Canadian 38 02 Red River 278
03 Sulphur 57
04 Cypress 84
05 Sabine
193
06 Neches
237
07 Neches-Trinity
110
08 Trinity
644
09 Trinity-San Jacinto 17
10 San Jacinto
151
11 San Jacinto-Brazos 62
12 Brazos
1130
Basin
# of WRs
13 Brazos-Colorado 69
14 Colorado
1221
15 Colorado-Lavaca 30
16 Lavaca 56
17 Lavaca-Guadalupe 5
18 Guadalupe
353
19 San Antonio
267
20 San Antonio-Nueces 19
21 Nueces
254
22 Nueces-Rio Grande 83
23 Rio Grande
863
Total Water Rights
6221
Total number of water rights in each basin as of April 8, 2019.
This does not include Water Supply Contracts, Temporary Permits, management plans or system operations.
A complete listing of active and inactive water rights in Texas can be found at

6. Title 30 TAC §297.81: General Rules of Conveyance
Irrigation water rights convey proportionately with the land, unless specifically withheld.
Exceptions:
An irrigation authorization is issued to a non-landowner, making it personal to the permitee.
If the irrigation water right is held by a Water Corporation, Water District, River Authority or Governmental Entity. The water right must be specified in the conveyance document.
The irrigation authorization cannot pass with the land if it is issued to a non-landowner.

7. Title 30 TAC §297.81: General Rules of Conveyance (cont.)
If the water right is reserved from conveyance and the owner wishes to alter the Place of Use, Diversion Point or Purpose of Use, then an amendment application must be filed with the Executive Director pursuant to TAC §
(d) A water right may be conveyed separately from the land; provided, however, the water right must be utilized in accordance with its terms and conditions until amended by the commission.
Authorization changes to a water right are handled by the Water Rights Permitting Team (WRPT).
If a new owner wishes to amend a water right, they must become an owner of record before an amendment occurs.
WRCAT and WRPT work together to process applications with changes to authorizations.

8. Title 30 TAC §297.82: Duty to inform the Executive Director
An owner of a water right, or his or her agent, shall promptly inform the Executive Director of any transfer of water right or change of the owner's address.
keywords are “shall…promptly…any.

9. Title 30 TAC §297.83: Recording Conveyances of Water Rights
Water right conveyance documents must be recorded with the County Clerk.
Provide copies of the recorded instruments evidencing a complete chain of title from the owner of record.
takeaway: get your documents recorded either with the county clerk or court. We are looking for recording information to verify that the documents are complete.

10. Examples of Documents Submitted
Warranty Deeds
Special Warranty Deeds
Bill of Sale
Water Rights Transfer Deed
Partition Deed
Gift Deed
Quitclaim Deed
Will, Probate Order, Will Inventory
Deed of Trust
Trust Agreement
Covenants & Restrictions
Certificate of Merger
Certificate of Formation
Water Rights Conveyance
These are some of the common documents we see, but there are as many types of conveyance documents as there are lawyers to write them.

11. Sidebar - Amendments
Authorization changes to a water right are handled by the Water Rights Permitting Team (WRPT)
If a new owner wishes to amend a water right, the change of ownership should be completed first
WRCAT and WRPT work together to process these applications
More information about water rights permits can be found on our website
Or you can visit our booth downstairs

12. Change of Ownership for a Surface Water Right
TWC §11.040
(a) A permanent water right is an easement and passes with the title to land.
(b) A written instrument conveying a permanent water right may be recorded in the same manner as any other instrument relating to a conveyance of land.
Change of Ownership Form No
Water Right Number
New Owner Name
Mailing Address
Phone Numbers
Must be notarized.
The following is required information on the Change of Ownership Form:
Water Right Number
New Owner Name
Mailing Address
Phone Numbers

13. Change of Ownership Form No. 10204: 2 Form Pages, 4 instruction pages
This is an image of the Water Rights Change of Ownership Form. The following is required information on the Change of Ownership Form: Water Right Number New Owner Name Mailing Address Phone Numbers
Signature block
Notary signature block
Only notarized forms can be accepted
Form can be downloaded at

14. Change of Ownership Form No. 10204: 2 Form Pages, 4 instruction pages
Page 3 has information regarding some frequently asked questions and common misconceptions
Pages 4-6 have detailed instructions for filling out each section of the form
If you have questions, you can always call or
Form can be downloaded at

15. What Causes a Delay Incomplete Change of Ownership packages.
Missing or un-notarized application form.
Missing fee (§ ).
Standard practice is one fee per application per water right.
Documents that have not been recorded with the County Clerk (§297.83).
Incomplete contact information.
Including a plat map is always a good idea.
Unclear conveyance documents.
Gaps in recorded chain of title.
Acreage values that have changed over time.
There are many reasons that a file may take longer than another to process.

16. Places to Look for Information
County appraisal district webpages
Texas file
County clerk’s office, or courthouse
Record location can vary by county
Probate records are typically kept separately
Title policy
Most county records go back at least 3 records, but this varies widely by county. For example, Williamson county has digitized records back 100 years,...some counties have more online resources than others. Access fees and copy costs are determined at the local level and also vary widely. Contact the county offices where the property is located to determine specific details.
Texas File is an online database  property records from most counties in the state are available for preview and purchase.  This is a free resource to look for information from the comfort of your smartphone rather than the county records building. An address is required to begin browsing. 

17. Title Policy
You may already have most of the paperwork you need in the title search performed by the title company when you purchased your property
Additional documents are sometimes required, but this can be a great head start and save you money. You already paid for these at closing of sale.
A great place to start when looking for title is to check the information the title or abstract company provided to you when you first purchased your property. Often this documentation will contain valuable chain of title information and could save you money.

18. Take-Away
Submit:
Complete, recorded chain of title documents.
Completed, notarized Change of Ownership Form, and
$100 recording fee.
Please make your remittance payable to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
By referencing the Water Right number in all correspondences it makes processing submitted information smoother.
Water rights are across Texas, the change of ownership process is simple yet detail oriented, and there are many online and in person resources to help guide you through the process.
Also, if available, a map of the land being conveyed.

19. Contact Information
For water right Changes of Ownership, Water Use Reports and Amendments to a Water Right please call:
For general information on water rights permitting, please go to:
The goal of todays course was to present you an overview of Water rights, giving you a glimpse into the available data and the importance of maps. There are many documents and other online resources that can aid you in your search through these murky surface waters.
I understand this presentation has moved quickly, if there are any topics that you would like for me to go into more detail on I would be happy to do so at this time.
Well please stick around for more information regarding Water Use Reports in the next talk and thank you for attending. I hope you have gained more insight into the world of Water Rights Ownership.