Building a private compound in Texas

Water

Texas treats groundwater as the landowner's property under the rule of capture, limited by the courts against malicious or wasteful pumping. Groundwater conservation districts, the state's preferred management tool, can require permits for non-exempt wells, set spacing and modify the rule within their boundaries, so the local district's rules decide what a new well may pump. Surface water belongs to the state and is permitted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, with exceptions for domestic and livestock use and stock tanks of up to 200 acre-feet.

Texas actively encourages rainwater harvesting: equipment is exempt from state sales tax, local taxing units may offer property tax exemptions and homeowners' associations cannot ban it. There is no statewide permit for harvested rainwater.

Building codes

Building codes in Texas are adopted at the local level. Cities must use a state-mandated residential code, but counties have historically had little authority over construction in unincorporated areas. Some counties now require builders to follow the residential code used in the county seat and to file inspection reports, without county inspectors of their own. Rules vary county by county, and lenders and insurers may still require inspections, so we document every Styrkholm compound to code regardless.

Climate and growing season

Texas spans zones 6a to 10b. Approximate frost-free seasons run from about 180 days around Amarillo to about 230 in Dallas-Fort Worth, 250 in Austin and 270 in Houston. Rainfall falls sharply from east to west: the Texas A&M horticulture program describes the plains as receiving about 26 inches a year in the east and 16 at the New Mexico line, and far West Texas 10 inches or less.

Hazards

Texas leads the nation in billion-dollar disasters in NOAA's records since 1980, most of them severe storms and hail, with tropical cyclones causing the greatest cost. Drought, winter storms, flooding and wildfire also appear. The February 2021 winter storm is the defining recent grid event; read our briefing on Winter Storm Uri.

The grid

Most of Texas is served by ERCOT, a grid that sits almost entirely within the state and is largely separate from the rest of the country, serving about 90 percent of the state's load. Gas, wind, coal, solar and nuclear make up most of its generation. An estate that runs on its own power does not depend on how that grid performs in a crisis.

Our view

Texas rewards buyers who budget for property taxes and choose the groundwater district carefully. Its long growing seasons, private groundwater and light rural regulation make it one of the most flexible states for a compound outside the Mountain West.

This guide is general information, current to October 2026, and not legal, tax or water-rights advice. Water and building rules change and vary by county and basin. We verify every requirement for a specific parcel with the responsible agency before purchase.