Appendix A: County by county

This is a schematic list for orientation across nine counties, not a directory. It shows which water systems the state lists, who TCEQ lists as the septic authorized agent, the county seat, whether a groundwater district covers the county and how sure that is, and where to start asking about permits. Confirm anything that matters with the office named.

How to read this list

Water systems are named as the Texas Water Development Board lists them in its January 2024 county summaries, as systems "located in the county." The Board says these cover municipal user groups and county-other systems, so very small or non-community systems may be absent. A name here does not mean the system serves your tract. The state's service boundary viewer and the system itself answer that, as Chapter 2 explains.¹

Authorized agents are given as TCEQ's county search publishes them. An authorized agent is the local government body that handles septic permits, and Chapter 22 explains the role. TCEQ's instruction for anyone inside a city is: "Find the name of the city under the Authorized Agent column. If the city is not listed, contact the county." Where no local program applies, "The TCEQ regional office will be the permitting authority."^{2 3}

For plumbing work, the state requires cities over 5,000 people to regulate it, and permits smaller ones to. No statute found for this book gives counties a general plumbing permit power, though that absence is not proven. Whether a county adopted a residential building code order under Local Government Code chapter 233 was not checked. Start with city hall inside city limits, and the county outside them. Chapter 32 has the detail.^{4 5}

County seats come from the Handbook of Texas.⁶ This book states no county populations, and several state rules turn on them, so ask the office concerned whether a population threshold reaches your county.

Lamar

The listing does not say who handles towns such as Blossom or Reno. Follow TCEQ's instruction and contact the county.

Red River

Fannin

The listing does not say who handles towns other than Bonham. Follow TCEQ's instruction and contact the county.

Delta

Hopkins

Franklin

Titus

Bowie

Morris

What was not confirmed

• Groundwater districts. County status rests on a TWDB map dated November 2019, read by eye, plus a 2018 TWDB report for Lamar, Red River and Delta. TCEQ's contact list of June 12, 2026 shows no other district named for any of these counties, but it does not list counties, so it is only partial support. An election or a new bill could change this. Ask TCEQ or TWDB.^{7 8 9 10}
• Water system lists. TCEQ's own Drinking Water Viewer could not be opened, so the Board's summaries stand in. They are dated January 2024, and systems merge and change names.
• Local septic orders. None of the nine counties' orders was checked. Local rules may be stricter than the state's, including on owner installs and owner maintenance.
• City plumbing rules. The sites for Paris, Texarkana and Bonham could not be read, and no reachable site was found for Clarksville. What is said about them above is marked as not confirmed. The Reno website that turned up did not appear to be Reno in Lamar County, so it was not used.
• County building orders. Whether any of the nine has adopted a residential building code order was not checked, apart from a look at Lamar County's home page.