Rio Grande Water Rights Are Managed by a State Watermaster

A watermaster is a state official who controls how water is taken from a river. The TCEQ Rio Grande Watermaster program covers 16 counties, and Hidalgo is one of them. The watermaster decides who can draw water, how much, and when—covering the Rio Grande from Fort Quitman all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

Irrigation districts in the lower valley hold water rights tied to acreage. Those rights carry forward from year to year. They do not reset.

If you are buying farmland or a water right in Hidalgo County, this matters. Talk to TCEQ's watermaster office in Harlingen before you close on any deal. Water rights can be complicated, and the rules have real effects on what you can do with the land.