The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality voted on April 9 to appoint a watermaster who will oversee water allocations from the lower portion of the Brazos River basin, saying recent shortages in water supply justify more regulatory oversight.

However, the Commissioners, citing a lack of evidence, failed to support putting a watermaster in place to oversee the “upper basin” of the Brazos. A cutoff point at the Possum Kingdom reservoir, which is about 75 miles west of Fort Worth, Texas, was adopted.