The Cross Section, Volume 14, Number 5, October 1967 Page: 1
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A Monthly Publication of the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1
Vol. 1.-No. 5
"THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR WATER"
S uprem1 ourt
Supreme Annexation Petitions
Hears Waler Case Filed By Crosby CountyWe Pas'i ThIN Ray hut Once
By HON. BILL CLAYTON
EDITOR'E NOTE: From time to time and protecting our soil and water-
conservationists get so wrapped up it is also preserving our national her-
conserving n a t u r a 1 resources that itage-respect for law and Order-up-
they often forget the most important lifting human morality and dignity-
resource of all--Our National Herit- passing on to future generations the
age. The following is a speech that many freedoms we enjoy.
was delivered by the Hon. Bill Clayton It is this broadest scope of conser-
of Springlake, Texas, at the recent vation that we'll speak of this morn-
Annual State Meeting of the District ing when we say, -"WE PASS THIS
Supervisors of the Texas Soil and Wa- WAY BUT ONCE"-
ter Conservation Districts. To bring our subject i n to focus,
We think you will find Clayton's we'll use the negative approdh. Let's
remarks quite inspirational. think about s o m e mistakes we all
need to avoid in life. I have ten of
It's certainly a pleasure to m e e t them I would like to discuss. They
with you again. I know of no group are:
that is working harder to conserve
our soil and water than you. Being a 1) Remorse over yesterday's fail-
farmer, I'm interested in your work ure.
and the progress you have made dur- 2) Anxiety over today's problems.
ing the past years. 3) Worry over tomorrow's uncer-
It has been my pleasure to work tainty.
with you and your representatives in 4) Waste of the moment's "oppor-
the Texas Legislature. I feel we have tunity.
made great progress in the past and 5) Procrastination with one's pres-
I look forward to greater progress in ent duty.
the future. 6)Resentment of another's success.
This being a conservation meeting, 7) Criticism of a neighbor's imper-
I would like to share a few of my fection.
thoughts with you, concerning conser- 8) Impatience with youth's imma-
vation. turity.
Conservation is more than saving (Continued on Page 4)A fact of life is that you can't separate Local
Control from Local Responsibility ... Are you
doing your part to help conserve our Greatest
Natural Resource-WATER?October 1967
On October 25th the S u p r e m e
Court of Texas heard oral argument
in the Sun Oil Company vs Earnest
Whitaker, et al., water case f r o m
Hockley County, Texas. The case, in-
volved a question never heard previ-
ously by the Texas Supreme Court,
the free use of Ogallala water in sec-
ondary oil recovery operations.
This suit was brought by Sun Oil
Company for an injunction against al-
leged efforts by Whitaker to prevent
Sun from using his water, without
due compensation, for water flooding
purposes. Sun Oil Company contend-
ed they had the free use of the water
under a mineral lease arrangement
with Mr. L. D. Gann, owner of the
mineral rights to the land.
The 121st District Court in Hock-
ley County denied the injection and
the 7th Court of Civil Appeals at Am-
arillo upheld the denial.
HISTORY OF CASE
Sun Oil Company obtained an oil,
gas and mineral lease April 5, 1946
from Mr. L. D. Gann on a 267 acre
farm in Hockley County.
Gann deeded the land to Earnest
Whitaker on January 2, 1948. Whit-
aker is now cultivating the land as an
irrigated farm. ,
Gann deeded the land to Whitaker,
reserving all minerals, and made the
conveyance of the land subject to the
terms of the oil and gas lease. The
lease is still in effect by virtue of
eight producing oil wells on the land.
During the past few years produc-
tion from the wells diminished great-
ly and Sun decided to water flood the
lease. 'the Texas Railroad Commission
issued ,approval to Sun Oil Company
to water flood the lease by injecting
fresh water into the oil bearing for-
mation beneath the farm land. To ac-
complish the flooding operation, Sun
drilled a water supply well on the
farm.
The Company alleged, h o w e v e r,
that Whitaker threatened repeatedly
to prevent them from using the water
for the water flooding operation.
The crucial question in the suit isPetitions have been presented to
the Board of Directors of the High
Plains Underground Water Conserva-
tion District No. 1 by land owners in
Crosby County asking that their Coun-
ty be made -a part of the High Plains
Underground Water Conservation Dis-
trict No. 1.
The Board, at a recent meeting, ac-
cepted the petitions, and will hold a
hearing in Crosby County in the near
future to determine if there is suffic-
ient interest in the County to call an
annexation election.
Should the Board call such an elec-
tion and the County votes to become
a part of the District the County will
become a part of the largest under-
ground water district in the world.
Services that the residents of Cros-
by C o u n t y will receive are, cost-
in-water depletion maps, an extensive
and vast amount of technical data on
water conservation, tailwater return
systems, artificial recharge, lake mod-
ification data, and numerous other
services offered by the District.
Land owners in Crosby County will
also profit from future studies on wa-
ter conservation that will be done by
the District.
Open For Business
The High Plains Underground Wa-
ter Conservation District No. 1 op-
ened it's office in Petersburg, Texas
on August 1, 1967. The office is lo-
cated in the Mayo Insurance Agency
and is staffed by Joe Mayo and Mrs.
Lois Markham.
Well drilling applications are being
received and processed. Farmers in
the Petersburg area are invited to
come by your High Plains Water Dis-
trict Office to attend to Water busi-
ness and get acquainted with the op-
eration and personnel.
Please Close ThoseAbandoned Wells!!!
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Clayton admire the award recently presented to Clayton by
the District Supervisors of the Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts 'for
his distinguished service to the people of Texas.-.4
U ta( Continued on Page 2)
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High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1 (Tex.). The Cross Section, Volume 14, Number 5, October 1967, periodical, October 1967; Lubbock, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1532911/m1/1/: accessed June 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.