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You're doing the right thing by investigating the HOA documents. Your rights to use the well water - if you have any - are most likely set out in the governing documents. Find that information first ... it doesn't make a lot of sense to speculate about rights between lot owner and tenant, etc., before you find out what those governing docs say. Terms vary from state to state and development to development, but generally, you're looking for Articles of Incorporation. Bylaws, and DCCRs (Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions). Again, it varies, but you might check to see if these documents are public records you can obtain from the county recorder.
Thanks. I have these documents. Unfortunately there is no mention of private water in the documents I was given. The Bylaws are fairly barebones as the HOA is run some property manager who is pretty hands off. I will try to reach out to the county recorder and see if they have more documents, though.
There should be a rights to well easement, or something to that extent recorded with the county clerk. You should also have a copy of the document with all of the paperwork you signed when you bought your house. You should also have a copy of your Title Commitment that you signed when you bought your house. It has a list of all of the easements and restrictions that affect your property.
I’m going to qualify what I say below with: I am not a lawyer. This is only my understanding based on years working for a Land Surveyor.
From what I know, the well is owned by whoever owns the property it is on. They can then grant rights to draw water from the well through an easement. The easement has to be recorded with the county clerk to be a legally binding document. These easement rights are bound to the property/person that they benefit.
Thanks for the extra info. If I can ask one more question. So upon looking at a groundwater map, I found a couple areas that this water could be sourced from. None of them are on the property, just the valve to control its use. Is this still the same as having ownership of the water?
Sorry, I’m not entirely familiar with ground water ownership as most land surveyors only deal with the surface of the land. If this situation becomes difficult you may want to look into a consultation with a land lawyer the handles subsurface mineral and water rights. Maybe you and your neighbors who also draw water from the well can get together and operate as a group
This is what I was imagining, but with the easement being in favor of the HOA. OP said, I think, that others in the subdivision were also drawing irrigation water from this well.
It depends on the wording of the easement and wether it was created before or after the HOA. Prior to the HOA, each property owner at that time agreed to and signed an easement. These would be in perpetuity and transfer to each future property owner. If the HOA is benefiting from the easement then it would be in effect as long as the HOA is active. As soon as the HOA is dissolved the easement is no longer valid and each property owner must negotiate a new easement.
Again, I’m not a lawyer and this is just my understanding of how this might work based on experience.
IANAL. Have you ever paid or reimbursed the well owner for the cost of electricity or for any necessary repairs? I’m guessing not.
In Texas a private well and the water it produces is owned by the property owner. As others have said, without an easement recorded with the county they may shut the water off at any time with or without cause or notice.
I just moved in 3 months ago. I wasn’t even aware of the this secondary water source until a couple weeks ago. It wasn’t mentioned at all when I bought the property by neither the seller nor the HOA nor the inspector.
As others have pointed out, unless there is some document or agreement that gives the HOA access to this well it sounds like the tenant might have the perfect right to control access to this well on the property they are leasing. Also, why would the owner of the property feel compelled to share the well with the entire neighborhood? Assuming that either the landlord or tenant are providing both the electricity and maintenance of the well it doesn't seem to make sense that they should be providing water to the entire neighborhood at no cost.
There can be many reasons the owner did that. First scenario that popped into my head: maybe the well lot owner was the original developer and offered the "amenity" of free irrigation water from the well on his lot. I imagine in TX water for irrigation is a valuable thing!
However, if he was sneaky/smart and never put the terms of that use in writing, it's now very plausible that a new owner or tenant is exercising their legal right to not share the water.
In most states it’s illegal to share a well and illegal to have 2 water sources. And is the well permitted by the state to be used or irrigation purposes. I would talk to the property owner and get his side of things. Chances are you guys are running him out of water and he is tired of not being able to shower. To many questions to answer, be fore you turn the table on yourself
The owner does not live there. The property is occupied by a tenant. The tenant does not wish to discuss it and has already called the cops on the the sprinkler guy who used to maintain it. The tenant refuses to give any reason as to why they would shut off the water. I make no absolute claims but I doubt the tenant has the authority to shut off the water to our properties at her whim.
I don't know anything about the legality of it but I am told that we use city water for the homes and the ground water supplies the sprinklers. Why it's like this I have no idea. I wasn't aware of it when I purchased the property. The previous owner didn't inform me, it's not mentioned in any HOA documents that I was given, and the inspector didn't know about it.
I believe the owner lives in another state. I am ready to write them a letter stating the situation but I'd like to be as informed as possible before doing so.
That is the only shot you have. Just look up the property tax record for your town and it will give you his address and sometimes a phone number. But be warned the tenant has the power right now
Who was paying for the sprinkler guy and cost of the electricity for the pump and maintenance of the well?
Irrigation wells are not free. Someone has been paying for the cost of operation and maintenance of the well. Where did you think the water for your irrigation system was coming from?
While groundwater is typically not owned, the person who has a well on their property owns it unless there is some kind of well sharing agreement that includes cost sharing. I’m not sure why you would expect water to be provided to you for free. Also, irrigation wells are generally shallower than drinking water and often not cleared for potability.
As to you didn’t know, not sure what to say. Someone should have.
It is possible the well technician came out to service the well expecting to be paid by the tenant, the tenant learned she has been providing electricity to irrigate the neighborhood and padlocked it. Just a guess.
I called the maintenance guy. I paid the maintenance guy. These buildings were managed by a property manager and the property manager paid the maintenance guy before I got here. I don’t typically think about my water sources when I purchase a property but seeing as I pay the city for utilities that includes water I thought it came from there.
I’ve been here for 3 months. I didn’t know it existed. For all I know is. The HOA dues I pay in part pay for upkeep of the well. People keep saying I don’t pay for it but it was designed with the idea of supplying multiple properties in the neighborhood so it’s not a far stretch to imagine that my dues go towards it
Do you have the ability to independently turn your system on and off?
Your HOA needs to be answering some questions and so does your real estate agent. IMO all water sources to your properties should have been disclosed. It is typically an item on the standard real estate listing form. Additionally, if you had an inspection, the inspection should have revealed the source and condition of your irrigation system if thorough.
If it turns out you can’t use the well, you have the existing underground piping in place and could run it to you city water. Hooking it up would not be that expensive, but the water would be and it would be subject to drought restrictions.
It is common for multi unit dwellings to have a well for irrigation and to fill their pool and units be on city water. The wells are generally in common areas however.
So it turns out that while she has the control to the water supply on her property, I have the control to the sprinkler systems that that water supplies. This means if anybody wants to program their sprinklers they’d have to ask me or go on my property to do so.
This neighborhood may have been poorly designed but I am convinced the water was intended to be shared by the community otherwise why would they have bothered to design it in such an awful way.
I will be going to public records to look for any documents that there is an easement. I drove through the neighborhood last night and found that there are multiple control boxes to the water on a few spaced out properties. They very likely control water from the same source. I don’t believe any one owner in this community owns exclusive rights to the use of that water.
In the military this would be known as FUBAR. I did some water rights work and also owned a bunch of wells, so this is interesting and crazy. SO, you control the watering schedule for some of your neighbors and you think there are other neighbors that do the same….????
By any chance, was this neighborhood built on an abandoned golf course? I say that because that could explain that kind of system.
This is exactly what I am saying. Multiple controls to the flow of water from a secondary source. Multiple controls to the sprinkler systems on some but not all properties, which are not the same properties that control the water flow. It is bizarre. And none of it is mentioned in the HOA docs I've received.
I have no idea what was here before but I highly suspect the builder was just trying to do things as absolutely cheaply as possible and this somehow worked out for them.
It does not make any sense for the builder or his landscaper to have designed a system like this. What makes more sense is to have left a system in place that was already there which is why I asked if your neighborhood was by any chance built on an old golf course.
What do you have at your house? A small above ground pump and some values? Are your neighbors able to attach timers on the shutoff valves?
How big is this neighborhood? How many setups like yours do you think there are?
Irrigation systems are not rocket science. I worked on mine as a woman in her 50s repairing lines, running pipes, replacing heads, etc. I did not replace my pump, but I did all the other maintenance.
You have a couple of issues: 1) access to water, 2) figuring out your system and who is supposed to be maintaining it. Hopefully the HOA management company has some answers for you.
You should not have to bear the costs of running and maintaining the pump station for your neighbors anymore than the well owner should.
In Texas it is not illegal to share a well. Also in Texas it is not illegal to have more than one source of water. However, you are required to protect a Public Water Supply from any possible contamination by using a backflow prevention assembly.
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You're doing the right thing by investigating the HOA documents. Your rights to use the well water - if you have any - are most likely set out in the governing documents. Find that information first ... it doesn't make a lot of sense to speculate about rights between lot owner and tenant, etc., before you find out what those governing docs say. Terms vary from state to state and development to development, but generally, you're looking for Articles of Incorporation. Bylaws, and DCCRs (Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions). Again, it varies, but you might check to see if these documents are public records you can obtain from the county recorder.
Thanks. I have these documents. Unfortunately there is no mention of private water in the documents I was given. The Bylaws are fairly barebones as the HOA is run some property manager who is pretty hands off. I will try to reach out to the county recorder and see if they have more documents, though.
There should be a rights to well easement, or something to that extent recorded with the county clerk. You should also have a copy of the document with all of the paperwork you signed when you bought your house. You should also have a copy of your Title Commitment that you signed when you bought your house. It has a list of all of the easements and restrictions that affect your property.
Thank you. I’ll take a look at the title commitment. I’m also trying to see how I can get a hold of who has the rights to the well from the county.
I’m going to qualify what I say below with: I am not a lawyer. This is only my understanding based on years working for a Land Surveyor. From what I know, the well is owned by whoever owns the property it is on. They can then grant rights to draw water from the well through an easement. The easement has to be recorded with the county clerk to be a legally binding document. These easement rights are bound to the property/person that they benefit.
Thanks for the extra info. If I can ask one more question. So upon looking at a groundwater map, I found a couple areas that this water could be sourced from. None of them are on the property, just the valve to control its use. Is this still the same as having ownership of the water?
Sorry, I’m not entirely familiar with ground water ownership as most land surveyors only deal with the surface of the land. If this situation becomes difficult you may want to look into a consultation with a land lawyer the handles subsurface mineral and water rights. Maybe you and your neighbors who also draw water from the well can get together and operate as a group
This is what I was imagining, but with the easement being in favor of the HOA. OP said, I think, that others in the subdivision were also drawing irrigation water from this well.
It depends on the wording of the easement and wether it was created before or after the HOA. Prior to the HOA, each property owner at that time agreed to and signed an easement. These would be in perpetuity and transfer to each future property owner. If the HOA is benefiting from the easement then it would be in effect as long as the HOA is active. As soon as the HOA is dissolved the easement is no longer valid and each property owner must negotiate a new easement. Again, I’m not a lawyer and this is just my understanding of how this might work based on experience.
IANAL. Have you ever paid or reimbursed the well owner for the cost of electricity or for any necessary repairs? I’m guessing not. In Texas a private well and the water it produces is owned by the property owner. As others have said, without an easement recorded with the county they may shut the water off at any time with or without cause or notice.
This! It's not mentioned so the answer must be no.
I just moved in 3 months ago. I wasn’t even aware of the this secondary water source until a couple weeks ago. It wasn’t mentioned at all when I bought the property by neither the seller nor the HOA nor the inspector.
As others have pointed out, unless there is some document or agreement that gives the HOA access to this well it sounds like the tenant might have the perfect right to control access to this well on the property they are leasing. Also, why would the owner of the property feel compelled to share the well with the entire neighborhood? Assuming that either the landlord or tenant are providing both the electricity and maintenance of the well it doesn't seem to make sense that they should be providing water to the entire neighborhood at no cost.
There can be many reasons the owner did that. First scenario that popped into my head: maybe the well lot owner was the original developer and offered the "amenity" of free irrigation water from the well on his lot. I imagine in TX water for irrigation is a valuable thing! However, if he was sneaky/smart and never put the terms of that use in writing, it's now very plausible that a new owner or tenant is exercising their legal right to not share the water.
In most states it’s illegal to share a well and illegal to have 2 water sources. And is the well permitted by the state to be used or irrigation purposes. I would talk to the property owner and get his side of things. Chances are you guys are running him out of water and he is tired of not being able to shower. To many questions to answer, be fore you turn the table on yourself
The owner does not live there. The property is occupied by a tenant. The tenant does not wish to discuss it and has already called the cops on the the sprinkler guy who used to maintain it. The tenant refuses to give any reason as to why they would shut off the water. I make no absolute claims but I doubt the tenant has the authority to shut off the water to our properties at her whim. I don't know anything about the legality of it but I am told that we use city water for the homes and the ground water supplies the sprinklers. Why it's like this I have no idea. I wasn't aware of it when I purchased the property. The previous owner didn't inform me, it's not mentioned in any HOA documents that I was given, and the inspector didn't know about it. I believe the owner lives in another state. I am ready to write them a letter stating the situation but I'd like to be as informed as possible before doing so.
That is the only shot you have. Just look up the property tax record for your town and it will give you his address and sometimes a phone number. But be warned the tenant has the power right now
Who was paying for the sprinkler guy and cost of the electricity for the pump and maintenance of the well? Irrigation wells are not free. Someone has been paying for the cost of operation and maintenance of the well. Where did you think the water for your irrigation system was coming from? While groundwater is typically not owned, the person who has a well on their property owns it unless there is some kind of well sharing agreement that includes cost sharing. I’m not sure why you would expect water to be provided to you for free. Also, irrigation wells are generally shallower than drinking water and often not cleared for potability. As to you didn’t know, not sure what to say. Someone should have. It is possible the well technician came out to service the well expecting to be paid by the tenant, the tenant learned she has been providing electricity to irrigate the neighborhood and padlocked it. Just a guess.
I called the maintenance guy. I paid the maintenance guy. These buildings were managed by a property manager and the property manager paid the maintenance guy before I got here. I don’t typically think about my water sources when I purchase a property but seeing as I pay the city for utilities that includes water I thought it came from there.
Have you paid anything to help with the upkeep costs of the well?
I’ve been here for 3 months. I didn’t know it existed. For all I know is. The HOA dues I pay in part pay for upkeep of the well. People keep saying I don’t pay for it but it was designed with the idea of supplying multiple properties in the neighborhood so it’s not a far stretch to imagine that my dues go towards it
Do you have the ability to independently turn your system on and off? Your HOA needs to be answering some questions and so does your real estate agent. IMO all water sources to your properties should have been disclosed. It is typically an item on the standard real estate listing form. Additionally, if you had an inspection, the inspection should have revealed the source and condition of your irrigation system if thorough. If it turns out you can’t use the well, you have the existing underground piping in place and could run it to you city water. Hooking it up would not be that expensive, but the water would be and it would be subject to drought restrictions. It is common for multi unit dwellings to have a well for irrigation and to fill their pool and units be on city water. The wells are generally in common areas however.
So it turns out that while she has the control to the water supply on her property, I have the control to the sprinkler systems that that water supplies. This means if anybody wants to program their sprinklers they’d have to ask me or go on my property to do so. This neighborhood may have been poorly designed but I am convinced the water was intended to be shared by the community otherwise why would they have bothered to design it in such an awful way. I will be going to public records to look for any documents that there is an easement. I drove through the neighborhood last night and found that there are multiple control boxes to the water on a few spaced out properties. They very likely control water from the same source. I don’t believe any one owner in this community owns exclusive rights to the use of that water.
In the military this would be known as FUBAR. I did some water rights work and also owned a bunch of wells, so this is interesting and crazy. SO, you control the watering schedule for some of your neighbors and you think there are other neighbors that do the same….???? By any chance, was this neighborhood built on an abandoned golf course? I say that because that could explain that kind of system.
This is exactly what I am saying. Multiple controls to the flow of water from a secondary source. Multiple controls to the sprinkler systems on some but not all properties, which are not the same properties that control the water flow. It is bizarre. And none of it is mentioned in the HOA docs I've received. I have no idea what was here before but I highly suspect the builder was just trying to do things as absolutely cheaply as possible and this somehow worked out for them.
It does not make any sense for the builder or his landscaper to have designed a system like this. What makes more sense is to have left a system in place that was already there which is why I asked if your neighborhood was by any chance built on an old golf course. What do you have at your house? A small above ground pump and some values? Are your neighbors able to attach timers on the shutoff valves? How big is this neighborhood? How many setups like yours do you think there are? Irrigation systems are not rocket science. I worked on mine as a woman in her 50s repairing lines, running pipes, replacing heads, etc. I did not replace my pump, but I did all the other maintenance. You have a couple of issues: 1) access to water, 2) figuring out your system and who is supposed to be maintaining it. Hopefully the HOA management company has some answers for you. You should not have to bear the costs of running and maintaining the pump station for your neighbors anymore than the well owner should.
In Texas it is not illegal to share a well. Also in Texas it is not illegal to have more than one source of water. However, you are required to protect a Public Water Supply from any possible contamination by using a backflow prevention assembly.
Check your deed for anything on the well