Groundwater Rights

Recently the Texas Supreme Court made its much anticipated, by farmers, conservationist and state officials alike, ruling on groundwater rights.  It ruled that the landowner legally owns the groundwater under their property.  This is the same idea used with oil, if it is under your property it belongs to you.   The law also states that the landowner may be owed compensation if state or local authorities have gone or go too far on limiting the amount of water the landowner can use.  One of the problems with this law is it does not define what  "too far" means.   According to Mose Bucele’s article in StateImpact Texas, Tom Mason, attorney, believes that we should expect that this ruling will provoke a flood of lawsuits regarding groundwater and owner’s rights

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StateImpact Texas quotes Mason as saying, “Where you stand depends on where you sit I guess,” says Mason. “Depending on whether you’re a land owner who has a well who wants to sell water to a city that needs it, or if you’re a landowner who’s afraid that your well is going to grow dry, because your neighbors well is going to produce water that’s going to be sold to someone [else] during the drought.”  As you can this this issue is causing mix emotions among farmers and conservationist alike.

What does this ruling mean when Texas is in one of the worst droughts in its history?  J.O. Dawdy,   a farmer for 36 years, stated, “The aquifer is the lifeblood of this place,” “We’ve certainly got no interest in wasting it.”  However, conservationists are still concerned with the Supreme Court ruling and how it is going to affect Texas’ water supply.  Laura Huffman of the Nature Conservancy, was quoted by StateImpact Texas saying, “The state is counting in its water plan on 25 percent of the water to come from conservation.” she says. “Now, with groundwater, how do you incentivize private landowners to reduce their use of this resource?” 

Unfortunately, this is a double-edged sword.  I can appreciate that this is a farmer’s livelihood and they have ownership rights to the water on their property.  I also can see how local and state agencies are concerned about water conservation and what this means to all Texans.  Right now it is too early to know the effects of the ruling; we will have to wait and see and hope for rain in the meantime.

Ultrasound Law

This entry is in regards to my classmate, Maria’s commentary on the ultrasound law, New Texas Law on Abortion .  I feel Maria’s argument was clear and concise.  I understand the point she was making, although I disagree with this new anti-choice law and I believe it was not established to help educate and provide patients with informed consent. 

I feel this is an attempt by pro-life activists to use intimidation in order to further their agenda.  Governor Rick Perry was quoted by DallasNews.com saying ““Today’s ruling is a victory for all who stand in defense of life.”  This is not a statement made by someone who just wants to educate, this is a statement made by someone with an agenda, and their agenda is to make it as uncomfortable as possible for a women to have the right to choose.   LifeNews.com quoted Elizabeth Graham, Texas Right to Life Director,  saying, “Our Sonogram Law is the best chance we’ve had in decades to take pregnant girls right out of Planned Parenthood and shut down their filthy, evil business. And Planned Parenthood knows this — they know the threat of the truth, of women looking through the window to the womb,” This is yet another example of how this law has little to do with education and informed consent and more do with taking away a woman’s right to choose.

I think all women should be offered the option to see the sonogram and hear the details if they choose to, not because the state chooses for them.  To me it seems that this law may go against a patient’s wishes by making it mandatory to hear the details even if they request not to.  If education is truly the intent, than health care providers need to find ways to inform their patients without using scare and intimidation tactics.

I agree that perhaps some women are possibly too flippant about the decision to have an abortion, but since it is legal, it is not our job to find ways to dissuade to them.