Sec. 11.202. RIGHT TO DRILL ARTESIAN WELL. (a) Except as provided by this section, a person is entitled to drill an artesian well for domestic purposes or for stock raising without complying with the general provisions of this code regulating the use of water.

(b) The artesian well must be on that person's own land and must be properly and securely cased.

(c) When water is reached containing mineral or other substances injurious to vegetation or agriculture, the artesian well must be securely capped or its flow controlled so as not to injure another person's land or properly plugged so as to prevent the water from rising above the first impervious stratum below the surface of the ground.

(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e) of this section, after September 1, 1991, and before January 1, 1994, a person may not drill and operate a free-flowing artesian well in a sole or principal source aquifer as designated by 40 C.F.R., Part 149, pursuant to Section 1424(e), Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300h-3(e)) that will result in a flow of more than 5,000 gallons per minute or that is within 1,000 feet of another well if the combined flows would exceed 5,000 gallons per minute.

(e) The commission may grant for a well an exemption from the prohibition provided by Subsection (d) of this section for any beneficial use that does not waste water. The commission by rule may delegate the authority to grant exemptions under this subsection to a local water district.

Amended by Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2207, ch. 870, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1977; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 2nd C.S., ch. 4, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 29, 1991.