Clayton Williams Suing to Pump Water From Land

Former Texas gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams has sued a West Texas water district for denying his application to pump water from beneath his land. Williams claims in a lawsuit filed last week in federal court in Midland that several of his constitutional rights were violated when the Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District denied his plan. The Pecos County wildcatter, rancher and multimillionaire who lost the 1990 Texas governor's race to Ann Richards is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. The suit claims the district discriminated against Williams' application by treating it ''differently than others similarly situated'' and that the district's board violated his due process rights by denying his application. Williams has used water on his land for decades, but now wants to change the district-sanctioned use and export it...read more