Do I need a state water-rights permit for a stock pond?
Usually no. Texas Water Code §11.142 lets you build a dam or reservoir on your own property holding up to 200 acre-feet of water for domestic and livestock purposes without a permit — and the statute says using your land for livestock is not a commercial operation, so a working ranch qualifies.
This is the exemption Texas landowners have relied on for generations of stock tanks and charcos. The key conditions: the pond is on your own property, its normal storage (what it holds before spilling) stays at or under 200 acre-feet, and the use is domestic and livestock. There is a parallel exemption for fish and wildlife ponds on land that qualifies as open-space for tax purposes, and for wildlife management ponds in unincorporated areas. A commercial operation — say, selling the water — does not qualify.
Texas A&M AgriLife's water-law guide for landowners, A Pond to Call My Own, is the best deep-dive if you want the full legal picture.
How big is 200 acre-feet — will my pond come close?
Not even close, almost certainly. 200 acre-feet is about 65 million gallons. A typical one-acre stock pond with an average depth of 8 feet holds roughly 8 acre-feet — about 4% of the ceiling.
One acre-foot is one acre of surface covered one foot deep (325,851 gallons). To exceed the exemption you would need something like a 20-acre lake averaging 10 feet deep — that is a ranch lake project, not a stock tank. Want to know your pond's number? Run your dimensions through our stock pond calculator — it reports the volume in acre-feet against the 200 acre-feet exemption, plus the dirt we would move to dig it.
Do I have to call Texas 811 even on my own ranch?
Yes — this one is not optional. The Texas One-Call law (Texas Utilities Code Chapter 251) requires notifying Texas 811 at least two working days before excavating 16 inches or deeper with mechanized equipment — private land included.
A stock pond is many feet deeper than 16 inches, so every pond dig triggers the notice. Pipelines, rural electric, water, and fiber lines cross ranch land in the Rio Grande Valley, and striking one is dangerous, can bring civil penalties, and leaves you liable for the repair. The locate service is free — utilities mark their lines within two working days. El Venadito RB files the Texas 811 notice as part of every excavation job, so this box gets checked without you thinking about it.
Do TCEQ dam safety rules apply to a stock pond?
Usually not. Most RGV stock tanks are excavated pits dug into flat land — not embankment dams built across a drainage — and the TCEQ dam safety program (30 TAC Chapter 299) regulates dams that meet size and hazard criteria.
If your design does include an embankment or levee to impound water, know the outlines: Texas exempts many small private dams (on private property, under 500 acre-feet capacity, low or significant hazard, outside city limits) — but one criterion is being in a county with fewer than 350,000 people. Willacy County is far under that line; Cameron and Hidalgo counties are over it. So an embankment pond in Cameron or Hidalgo County deserves a design review before dirt moves. And if the site touches a wetland or a flowing creek, federal Clean Water Act rules can come into play — that is a flag to resolve during siting, not after. When we walk a pond site, raising these flags is part of the visit.
So what should a landowner actually do?
Three steps: (1) confirm your pond is for domestic/livestock (or qualifying wildlife) use and under 200 acre-feet — almost every stock tank is; (2) make sure the Texas 811 notice is filed before any digging; (3) if the design involves an embankment, a wetland, or a creek, get it reviewed first.
On the construction side, we size and shape ponds with reference to the USDA NRCS Conservation Practice Standard 378 (Pond) and we evaluate the soil honestly before quoting — clay holds water, sand may not, and we tell you which one you have. See our stock pond & dirt tank excavation page for how we build them.
This guide is general information for landowners, not legal advice. Statutes change and every site is different — for a legal question about your specific property, talk to a Texas water-law attorney. Statute links above go to the official Texas Legislature and TCEQ pages.
Thinking about a pond on your place?
Free on-site evaluation anywhere in the Rio Grande Valley — soil check, siting, honest answer on whether it will hold water, and the Texas 811 notice handled for you.