When in Texas...
June 29, 2006 8:10 PM   Subscribe

Texas Riparian Law I found this intriguing because I 1) live in Texas, 2) have walked many Texas creekbottoms, 3) have a lot of lawyer friends, and 4) as an English major, find the language somehow beautiful.
posted by rleamon (25 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'll bookmark this site in case I'm over-caffeinated and really need to get some sleep...
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 8:24 PM on June 29, 2006


Whatever floats your boat... so to speak...
posted by rleamon at 8:28 PM on June 29, 2006


I was raised in Texas... I, too, have walked many creekbottoms... I have many lawyer friends as well... but don't find the language beautiful or even interesting...

and I'm ok with that...
posted by WhipSmart at 9:11 PM on June 29, 2006


(Any help, here? Am I missing something huge [e.g. there's an embedded sonnet in the third paragraph]? Anyone?)
posted by Ricky_gr10 at 9:21 PM on June 29, 2006


Anything in particular about the language that you find so enchanting? While it wasn't the most boring thing I've ever read, I just didn't see anything special about the way it's written. Or is just my lack of dry-creekbed-walking that's preventing me from seeing the beauty of the prose?
posted by bunglin jones at 10:17 PM on June 29, 2006


While I didn't find any beauty in the link, I did find it very interesting. That may be because my family has been farming in the desert for many generations and I know that blood has been cheaper than water many times in our past. Water law is very complex and it's always interesting to see how it's done elsewhere.
posted by buggzzee23 at 10:33 PM on June 29, 2006


Applicants to the Texas bar have to memorize this shit. Be happy it's optional for the rest of you.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 10:42 PM on June 29, 2006


What you have here are some descriptions of rleamon and incidentally a link to something. It's a non-linking self-post! Is there a name for this?
posted by missbossy at 11:35 PM on June 29, 2006


Diffused surface water-surface drainage over the face of a tract of land before it is concentrated into a channel or streamcourse-is another legal class of water. It retains this classification until it reaches a streamcourse, sinks into the ground, or evaporates.

*snaps fingers repeatedly*
posted by brundlefly at 11:51 PM on June 29, 2006


Well if that gets you excited, knock yourself out with this (big word file). Check the definition of waterway:
"waterway" means —
(a) a river, creek, stream or watercourse; or
(b) a natural channel in which water regularly flows, whether or not the flow is continuous; or
(c) a channel formed wholly or partly by the alteration or relocation of a waterway as described in paragraph (a) or (b); or
(d) a lake, lagoon, swamp or marsh, being—
(i) a natural collection of water (other than water collected and contained in a private dam or a natural depression on private land) into or through or out of which a current that forms the whole or part of the flow of a river, creek, stream or watercourse passes, whether or not the flow is continuous; or
(ii) a collection of water (other than water collected and contained in a private dam or a natural depression on private land) that the Governor in Council declares under section 4(1) to be a lake, lagoon, swamp or marsh; or
(e) land on which, as a result of works constructed on a waterway as described in paragraph (a), (b) or (c), water collects regularly, whether or not the collection is continuous; or
(f) land which is regularly covered by water from a waterway as described in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) but does not include any artificial channel or work which diverts water away from such a waterway; or
(g) if any land described in paragraph (f) forms part of a slope rising from the waterway to a definite lip, the land up to that lip;
posted by wilful at 11:55 PM on June 29, 2006


Well, I'm getting a woody. I also love the idea that someone thinks that they has a lot of lawyer "freinds".

How quaint.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 12:15 AM on June 30, 2006


Let's cut to the chase: You think you got some water? Monsanto owns it.
posted by sourwookie at 12:20 AM on June 30, 2006


I've got a woody. That's all. Thanks, you've all been wonderful, drive safe.
posted by chef_boyardee at 12:31 AM on June 30, 2006


1) I live in Texas.
2) I never gave water rights much thought since I live a city and my water needs are met by the faucet.
3) I don't find the language that beautiful. I guess that makes me glad I wasn't an English major.
posted by birdherder at 12:53 AM on June 30, 2006


Applicants to the Texas bar have to memorize this shit. Be happy it's optional for the rest of you.

I have no sympathies whatsoever for someone who chooses to both live in Texas and to practice law.
posted by Kwantsar at 5:05 AM on June 30, 2006


Texas courts presume that all groundwater is percolating unless proved otherwise.

Guilty until proven innocent. Motherfuckers.
posted by Gator at 5:11 AM on June 30, 2006


Unlike scientists, who usually regard all water as part of the endless hydrologic cycle, a natural whole, Texas courts divide water into unrelated legal classes

1. water that belongs to the Emperor...
posted by Slithy_Tove at 5:33 AM on June 30, 2006


This post makes me want to listen to The Misfits. "Bullet" is an awesome song. For what it is, it's perfect. I find the language somehow beautiful.
posted by BeerFilter at 5:33 AM on June 30, 2006


Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.

The very deep did rot: O Christ!
That ever this should be!
Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
Upon the slimy sea.
posted by Floydd at 6:19 AM on June 30, 2006


Aw, come on, give rleamon a break, he just likes the word riparian. "The riparian doctrine, which accords water rights to those who own riparian land..." I have to admit, it's a nice word. Calling the whole text "beautiful" may be a bit of a stretch, but after some of the crap that's been posted here lately (Flash propaganda, anyone?), I'll take it.
posted by languagehat at 6:34 AM on June 30, 2006


I was just about to comment that this post is probably all about the word "riparian" before languagehat beat me to the punch. I remember coming across the word in a legal opinion and really liking it as well. I also refrained from bringing it to MeTa, but whatevs.
posted by Falconetti at 6:47 AM on June 30, 2006


"Riparian" is the new "littoral."
posted by Kwantsar at 8:09 AM on June 30, 2006


I actually like the word "percolating." Maybe "percolating" is the new "transuding."
posted by Gator at 8:17 AM on June 30, 2006


I like the word riparian too. I was an English major. I did not enjoy the language of this law article. I used to write abstracts of the Journal of Groundwater for a living. I have never been to Texas.
posted by mrgrimm at 3:15 PM on June 30, 2006


Was it this part?

"We believe that the landowner is entitled...to such rainfall as may come from clouds over his own property that nature in her caprice may provide."

That took a lot of digging, though....
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 5:08 PM on June 30, 2006


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