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Tex. Water Code § 49.218

This is the official text of Tex. Water Code § 49.218, part of Texas’s Water Code — governs water rights and water resource management.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

§ 49.218. ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY.

Official statutory text

(a) A district or water supply corporation may acquire an interest in land, materials, waste grounds, easements, rights-of-way, equipment, contract or permit rights or interests, including a certificate of convenience and necessity, contractual rights to use capacity in facilities and to acquire facilities and other property, real or personal, considered necessary for the purpose of accomplishing any one or more of the district's or water supply corporation's purposes provided in this code or in any other law. A district may utilize proceeds from the sale and issuance of its bonds, notes, or other obligations to acquire the items authorized by this section.

(b) A district or water supply corporation shall have the right to acquire property by gift, grant, or purchase, and the right to acquire property shall include property considered necessary for the construction, improvement, extension, enlargement, operation, or maintenance of the plants, works, improvements, facilities, equipment, or appliances of a district or a water supply corporation.

(c) A district or water supply corporation may acquire either the fee simple title to or an easement on all land, both public and private, either inside or outside its boundaries and may acquire the title to or an easement on property other than land held in fee.

(d) A district or water supply corporation may require, as a condition for service, that an applicant for service grant to the district or water supply corporation a permanent recorded easement that:

(1) is dedicated to the district or water supply corporation; and

(2) will provide a reasonable right of access and use to allow the district or water supply corporation to construct, install, maintain, replace, upgrade, inspect, or test any facility necessary to serve that applicant as well as the district's or water supply corporation's purposes in providing system-wide service.

(e) A district or water supply corporation may not, under Subsection (d), require an applicant to provide an easement for a service line for the sole benefit of another applicant.

(f) As a condition of service to a new subdivision, a district or water supply corporation may require a developer to provide permanent recorded easements to and throughout the subdivision sufficient to construct, install, maintain, replace, upgrade, inspect, or test any facility necessary to serve the subdivision's anticipated service demands when the subdivision is fully occupied.

(g) A district or water supply corporation may also lease property from others for its use on such terms and conditions as the board of the district or the board of directors of the water supply corporation may determine to be advantageous.

(h) Property acquired under this section, or any other law allowing the acquisition of property by a district or water supply corporation, and owned by a district or water supply corporation is not subject to assessments, charges, fees, or dues imposed by a nonprofit corporation under Chapter 204, Property Code.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.