By Trey Wilson, Texas Real Estate and Water Lawyer · Published October 2026 The Texas Attorney General is investigating hundreds of data center developments for failing to report their water use to the State. If a data center is planned or running near your land, the investigation raises the question you have been asking all…
By Trey Wilson, Texas Real Estate and Water Lawyer · Published October 2026 The land agent was polite. The letter says the company wants to be a good neighbor, there is a check attached to a signature line, and the deadline is two weeks out. Before you sign a data center neighbor agreement, you need…
The San Antonio Data Center Lawsuit Won’t Pay the Neighbors. Texas Nuisance Law Might. What the Vantage and VoltaGrid Clean Air Act Case Means for Texas Landowners Living Next to a Data Center Power Plant On September 21, 2026, two national environmental groups sued the companies behind two data center campuses on San Antonio’s far…
By Trey Wilson, Texas Real Estate and Water Lawyer · Published October 2026 You signed an option, a purchase contract, or a ground lease with a data center developer. Now the State of Texas has frozen data center permits, and a letter arrives saying the freeze is “force majeure,” the deadlines are suspended, and the…
By Trey Wilson, Texas Real Estate and Water Lawyer · Published September 2026 The developer does not want to buy your land. It wants to lease it for 40 years, maybe 70 with extensions, and it has sent a letter of intent with a rent number that looks very good. Before you sign, understand what…
By Trey Wilson, Texas Real Estate and Water Lawyer · Published September 2026 · Local information last reviewed September 2026 Drive west on U.S. 90 out of San Antonio and the change is hard to miss. Land that was pasture and row crops a few years ago is fenced, graded, and under construction. If you…
By Trey Wilson, Texas Real Estate and Water Lawyer · Published September 2026 You just learned the land next door is going to a data center. Maybe you saw survey stakes, maybe a neighbor told you at the feed store, maybe it was on the commissioners court agenda. The first question almost everyone asks me…
By Trey Wilson, Texas Real Estate and Water Lawyer · Updated August 26, 2026 Across Texas, local governments are reaching for whatever authority they think they have to slow or stop data center development. Some of those tools are solid. Some are symbolic. At least one has already cost a county money. Here is my…
Governor Abbott Paused Texas Data Centers: What It Means for Landowners (and What It Doesn’t) Updated August 26, 2026. This is a developing situation, and the details will keep changing as the state audit runs. Since early August I have fielded a version of the same question from landowners across South and Central Texas: “The…
Lateral Support in Texas: The Duty Not to Undermine Your Neighbor’s Land Dig, cut, or grade near the property line, and the ground next door could become your legal problem. Here is the rule, and it does not turn on whether you were careful. Every parcel of land holds up the land beside it. Take…
Water Diversion and Section 11.086 of the Texas Water Code: What Landowners Should Know The statute that decides who pays when a neighbor’s grading, driveway, or new construction sends water onto your land. The water was never a problem for twenty-five years. Then someone changed the land next door. A neighbor built a wall, poured…
Will a Data Center Next Door Lower My Property Value? A Texas Landowner’s Guide to Diminished Value, Stigma, the Proof That Actually Wins, and What Happens When You Sell You have watched the announcements, the rezoning notices, and the survey trucks, and now a data center is going up within sight of your land. The…
Will a Data Center Drain My Water Well? A Texas Landowner’s Guide to Groundwater Ownership, the Rule of Capture, and Where You Actually Have Leverage When a Data Center Comes for the Water Your well has produced clean water for as long as you have owned the place, maybe longer than anyone in the family…
What if Data Center Lights or Noise Are Driving Me Crazy? A Texas Landowner’s Guide to Private Nuisance, the Crosstex Standard, and When a Data Center’s Hum and Glare Cross the Line The data center went online, and now your nights are different. A low mechanical hum rolls off the cooling banks and never stops,…
What Happens When Data Center Construction Floods My Land? A Texas Landowner’s Resource Guide to Surface Water Diversion, Water Code Section 11.086, and Drainage Claims Against Data Center Developers A developer strips the vegetation off a hundred acres next to you, regrades the whole tract so it falls toward your fence line, pours concrete pads…
The Texas Landowner’s Guide to Living Next to a Data Center What every Texas landowner should know when industrial development comes to the fence line. Trey Wilson Real Estate and Water Attorney. Representing Texas Landowners. Not Developers. Most of what has been written about data centers in Texas is written for the people building them….
A Texas Landowner’s Guide to Selling Property for a Data Center What Every Texas Landowner Should Know Before Signing an Option, Easement, or Purchase Agreement. By Trey Wilson, San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer. We represent Texas Landowners. Not Data Center Developers. Call 210-354-7600 What This Guide Covers What to do in…
Texas Real Estate & Water Law Blog When Government Construction Cuts Off Access to Your Property: A New Texas Court Explains When It Becomes a Constitutional Taking A road-widening project barricaded the only usable route to a Collin County ranch. The Dallas Court of Appeals just reminded us that when the government closes off the…
The Next Frontier of Texas Data Center Litigation: Challenging Governmental Approvals By Trey Wilson | San Antonio Real Estate Attorney | Texas Water Lawyer Every major development boom in Texas eventually ends up in court. We have seen it with pipelines, reservoirs, transmission lines, wind farms, master-planned communities, and virtually every other project requiring…
Easement by Necessity in Texas: What Early v. Cameron Teaches Landowners and Their Attorneys By Trey Wilson | San Antonio Real Estate & Water Law Attorney If you own rural land in Texas, buy it, finance it, or litigate over it, the Texas Third Court of Appeals just handed down a decision you should read….
Rescission in Texas Real Estate Disputes: What It Is, When It Is Available, and Why It Is Hard to Win By Trey Wilson, San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer Rescission is one of the most powerful remedies potentially available in a Texas real estate dispute. It is also…
Same Gulf, Very Different Paths: Two Bets on Seawater Desalination in South Texas By Trey Wilson, San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer The Water Problem Is Not Theoretical South Texas is running short of water, and the numbers are not close. The Rio Grande Valley’s population of 1.4 million is projected…
When a Government Agency Signs a Contract, Can You Sue It? Texas Law Says “Maybe.” Every day across Texas, governmental entities enter into contracts worth thousands, and sometimes millions, of dollars. Cities purchase land. Water districts contract for engineering services. River authorities acquire easements. Municipal utility districts construct infrastructure. Contractors build public projects. Developers dedicate…
Turning Point for Texas Water Supply? $1 Billion Desalination Plant Proposed for South Padre Island By Trey Wilson, San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer A $1 billion seawater desalination plant is now being proposed for South Padre Island, and it may mark a structural shift in how water is sourced, controlled, and…
Texas Data Centers and Water: Emerging Issues for Landowners and Water Users By Trey Wilson, San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer Texas is beginning to see a shift in how large-scale development is evaluated, particularly as it relates to data centers. These facilities have historically been viewed through the lens of economic…
When Wells Run Dry: Liability Theories Against Sellers and Developers in Texas Groundwater Transactions By Trey Wilson, San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer The Deal Looks Fine—Until the Water Stops In Texas, groundwater is often assumed. If there is a well on the property, buyers tend to believe it is lawful, produces…
Can You Stop a Dangerous Project Before It’s Built? A Texas Court Says Yes, If You Plead It Right By Trey Wilson, San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer One of the more important questions in land use and nuisance law is this: do you have to sit still and wait for the…
Texas Is Subsidizing Data Centers — But the Real Story Is in the Law, the Water, and the Risk There is a surface-level story making the rounds right now: Texas is handing out more than $1 billion per year in tax breaks to data centers. That part is true. But if you stop there, you miss…
Can You Challenge a Groundwater Conservation District If It Denies You Party Status? What the Texas Supreme Court Said in Cockrell Investment Partners, L.P. v. Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District By Trey Wilson, San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer If you work around groundwater disputes in Texas long enough, you learn that…
A Shared Water Well Agreement Is Not Just About Sharing Water By Trey Wilson San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer What Texas Landowners Need to Think About Before Multiple Lots Rely on One Well When people hear the phrase “shared water well agreement,” they often assume it is a simple arrangement. One…
Here’s the complete slide deck from my 2026 presentation “What Every Texas Real Estate Broker Needs to Know About Groundwater.” I have thoroughly enjoyed giving this presentation and the audience feedback has been fantastic. Click on the arrows to advance to the next slide. Hope you enjoy!
By Trey Wilson, San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer Water has become one of the most important issues in Texas real estate. It affects value, use, development potential, financing, disclosure, and risk. Yet many Texas real estate brokers still approach water as an afterthought. That is a mistake. Across Texas, growth continues…
Warning to Texas landowners: do not assume that permanent burdens on land require clean, surveyed, lawyer-drafted documents. A recent decision from the Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio shows how vague access language can harden into a permanent roadway easement, even when the original paperwork leaves critical details unanswered. On February 4, 2026,…
Texas Lis Pendens FAQ: What It Means, When It’s Allowed, and How to Remove It A lis pendens can shut down a Texas real estate deal overnight. It can block refinancing, derail a sale, and force disputes into court faster than most parties expect. It is not a judgment, but it often functions like…
If you co-own Texas land with someone who refuses to sell, refuses to cooperate, or refuses to do anything except argue, you are stuck until you force a decision. That is what a Texas partition lawsuit is for. It is the legal process that ends the stalemate by requiring the court to either divide the…
Texas Deeds and Property Conveyance Instrument FAQs This FAQ explains how deeds and other instruments transferring or affecting real property are recorded in Texas under Texas Property Code Chapter 11, including Section 11.001. If you buy, sell, inherit, or finance Texas real estate, recording mistakes create title disputes later. This page focuses on the rules…
WHAT IS AN EASEMENT? An easement is a liberty, privilege, or advantage without profit granted to a person, either personally or by virtue of his ownership of a specified parcel of land, to use another parcel of land for a specific purpose. Daniel v. Fox, 917 S.W.2d 106, 110 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 1996, writ denied)….
In Texas, a prescriptive easement is one of the most common ways property owners end up in court over driveways, roads, and access routes. It is a claim that someone has earned a legal right to keep using part of your land, even though there is no written easement. Prescriptive easements are hard to prove,…
IMPORTANCE OF TEXAS LANDOWNERS’ RIGHT TO EXCLUSIVE USE & ENJOYMENT OF THEIR OWN PROPERTY The Supreme Court of Texas has expressly acknowledged Texas’ emphasis on one’s right to exclusively use their own land: A property owner’s right to exclusive enjoyment of property is “one of the most essential sticks in the bundle of rights…
Texas is experiencing a major surge of large-scale data center announcements. The public conversation usually fixates on one headline number: a massive “state filing” with a nine-figure construction budget. Here is the reality. That “state filing” is vague and frequently misunderstood. It is usually not a plat. It is not a zoning case. It is…
