Water and Municipal
Land records for water and municipal utilities
Know what land you own, what easements you hold and where the gaps are, across one tract or thousands of acres.
What utilities need from land records
Water and wastewater systems depend on land rights that are often decades old, spread across many tracts and recorded in more than one county. Before a line is replaced, a plant site is bought or a filing goes in, someone has to confirm what the records show. GRSJ does that research and reports it in a format your engineer, attorney and board can use.
What GRSJ provides
Surface title across large acreage
Current owner, vesting deed, liens, recorded easements and mineral or water reservations of record for every tract in a project area, reported in one consistent format.
Easement and right-of-way research for lines and plant sites
Tract-by-tract research along a proposed or existing line, and for plant, tank, well and lift-station sites: who owns each tract, what easements are recorded, what they allow, and which tracts show no recorded rights.
Ownership reports for acquisition
Title packages for each tract you plan to buy or take an easement on, ready for your attorney, title company and acquisition team.
Well-site easement research
Texas rules require sanitary control easements covering land within 150 feet of a public supply well, or recorded proof that the system owns that land (30 TAC §290.41). We find the recorded deeds and easements around each well and list what is missing.
CCN-related land research
Water and sewer service areas (CCNs) are regulated by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. CCN applications and amendments involve notice to landowners with 25 acres or more in the requested area, and owners of qualifying tracts can petition for release. We research ownership, acreage, parcel IDs and mailing addresses of record for those filings and responses.
Easement inventory and records clean-up
Recorded easements matched to your mapped lines, gaps flagged, and the documents scanned and indexed so the next person can find them.
How GRSJ approaches a large-acreage surface title project
A large job is organized as a set of small, repeatable ones.
One tract list. We build a master tract list at the start, with a single tract ID that carries through every report, map reference and spreadsheet.
Phased by tract. Tracts are grouped into phases by county, priority or construction sequence. You receive each phase as it is finished, not one delivery at the end.
One report format. Every tract is reported the same way: owner, vesting instrument, legal description, encumbrances, easements and notes. Your team learns the format once.
Progress reporting. You receive a status report on a set schedule showing tracts complete, in progress and on hold, with open questions listed.
Issues log. Anything that needs a decision, such as a break in the chain, a missing instrument or an unclear description, goes on one log for your attorney or engineer.
Map-ready output. Legal descriptions and tract IDs are delivered so your GIS or engineering team can tie each report to the map.
What we need to start
- Project map, KMZ or shapefile, or a parcel list
- Counties involved
- The decision the research supports (purchase, easement acquisition, filing, funding or planning)
- Any existing title, easements or deeds you hold
- Your report format, if you have one
- Needed-by date and any phase priorities
Scope note
GRSJ provides research and reports, not legal title opinions, surveys or title insurance. Your attorney issues opinions and handles condemnation; a Registered Professional Land Surveyor prepares surveys and sealed exhibits; a licensed title agent issues commitments and policies.
Planning a line, plant site or acquisition?
Send the map and the counties involved. We reply within one business day with questions or a scope.