AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Amarillo city commissioners have established a dedicated fund for the purchase and protection of groundwater rights.
Amarillo has owned water rights in Hartley County since the 1950's.
Those holdings have been gradually declining in value because of the water tables dropping due to agriculture.
A family that has leased those water rights for years decided to purchase the rights back because they own the land overlaying the water already.
"It was an opportunity for us to release ourselves from those water holdings. So we can establish a dedicated fund, and we can take those monies to buy other water rights in potentially more valuable areas in the future," said Brian Eades, Amarillo City Commissioner.
Due to the ordinance just being passed today, no money is currently in the fund but the money saved from Hartley County which could be as much as $250,000 will be the first funds in that holding.
