Texas RRC Groundwater Protection Determination Letter Retrieval Provenance Worksheet

Direct answer for mineral owners

Give one authorized manual profileId 23 attempt a neutral ID. Record the official route, profile identity, timestamp, source-described era scope, controlled criteria, access and result states, evidence, and only located, not located, or unverified. Treat HTTP 403 and every incomplete attempt as unverified. Do not log in, pay, file, interpret a letter, or infer water-zone, casing, environmental, engineering, compliance, property, ownership, value, offer, legal, tax, or transaction facts.

Key takeaways for mineral owners

• Keep the profileId 23 attempt separate from later RRC Online records, direct agency or Central Records requests, applications, filings, and other Imaged Records profiles.
• Preserve Fall 2008 through June 6, 2015 as source-described profile scope, not proof that a particular letter exists or is complete.
• Treat HTTP 403, login requirements, access blocks, errors, timeouts, validation failures, session interruptions, CAPTCHAs, and unavailable viewers as unverified.
• Use not located only after a completed empty result attributable to accepted recorded criteria.
• Stop before interpreting a determination letter or drawing environmental, engineering, compliance, property, ownership, value, legal, or transaction conclusions.

Public retrieval boundary. This article records one authorized manual attempt through the Texas Railroad Commission’s Imaged Records Groundwater Protection Determination Letters profile. It does not interpret a letter or determine protected-water zones, casing, cementing, groundwater conditions, drilling, injection, disposal, environmental or engineering conditions, compliance, facility, operator, well, property connection, ownership, title, lease, royalty, value, offer quality, legal effect, tax, or transaction outcome. It does not provide legal, title, land, regulatory, environmental, geological, engineering, tax, accounting, appraisal, investment, or financial advice. MRX provides educational information and resources only and does not buy mineral rights.

A Texas RRC groundwater determination letter retrieval worksheet preserves how one manual source attempt occurred. It identifies the official route and profile, timestamps the attempt, records source-described era scope, points to controlled criteria, keeps access and result states separate, retains evidence, and assigns one bounded outcome.

Use only located, not located, or unverified. Those labels describe one retrieval event. They do not turn a profile name, coverage statement, result row, letter link, viewer, login screen, microfilm reference, or empty state into a substantive conclusion.

Start with the official Imaged Records route

Open the Texas RRC Research Queries directory and preserve the current Oil and Gas Imaged Records entry. Record the URL, displayed source label, access date, clock time, timezone, and destination.

The Imaged Records page supplies the official family route and bounded historical context for Groundwater Protection Determination Letters. Preserve that context as source description. Do not infer that a letter exists, applies to a property, is complete, or contains a particular determination.

This worksheet covers one authorized manual attempt. Do not scrape, poll, retrieve in volume, repeat queries, bypass access controls, automate CAPTCHA handling, log in, pay, or work around validation, timeout, session, or viewer behavior. When the profile cannot be completed as authorized, use unverified.

Lock profileId 23 and the era boundaries

The official Imaged Records Query Menu identifies Groundwater Protection Determination Letters as profileId=23. Preserve the displayed label, profile ID, link destination, and access timestamp. The profile ID is route provenance, not a letter, well, operator, property, or location identifier.

The menu describes the profile as covering Fall 2008 through June 6, 2015. It separately says later letters are filed online and may be viewed with an RRC Online login, unavailable 2000 through 2008 copies may be obtained by contacting the Groundwater Advisory Unit, and pre-2000 letters are available on microfilm in Central Records. Preserve each statement as a dated route boundary. None proves completeness or authorizes a login, request, payment, or substitution.

Route or era	Boundary for this worksheet
Imaged Records profileId 23	One manual profile attempt and source-described Fall 2008 through June 6, 2015 scope.
Later RRC Online records	Separate login route; do not log in or substitute it.
Unavailable 2000 through 2008 copies	Separate agency-contact route; no request or payment is authorized here.
Pre-2000 Central Records microfilm	Separate archive route; do not substitute a microfilm request.
GW-1/GW-2 application or filing	Separate regulatory task; this worksheet does not prepare or submit it.
P-18, T-1, EDMS, and other profiles	Separate collections with distinct criteria and evidence.

Preserve the current HTTP 403 attempt

During article preparation, the direct official profile route at profileId=23 returned HTTP 403. No profile page was captured, no criteria controls were verified, no values were entered, and no query completed. The present outcome is unverified.

HTTP 403 is an access response, not an empty result. A blocked page, login requirement, error, timeout, validation failure, default screen, interrupted session, CAPTCHA, unavailable viewer, or incomplete attempt does not show that a letter is absent. Record the route, timestamp, response state, stop point, and evidence reference without attempting a bypass.

Build the attempt header before using controls

Assign a neutral attempt ID that does not disclose coordinates, a well, operator, property, owner, or private transaction value. Preserve:

• the official directory, Imaged Records, menu, and profile URLs;
• the displayed Groundwater Protection Determination Letters label and profileId=23;
• the access date, clock time, and explicit timezone;
• each source-described era and route boundary with its access date;
• the authorized manual access method;
• exact source-displayed criteria labels, if the profile loads;
• a restricted reference to exact entered or selected values;
• the manual submit method and displayed submission state;
• any result row, letter link, image, download, or viewer state actually presented;
• the retained evidence location, access controls, and integrity reference; and
• the outcome, limitations, unresolved questions, and authorized recheck.

Do not publish coordinates, GAU numbers, counties, leases, wells, operators, dates, depths, or private-party values merely because a source accepts or displays them. Keep necessary values in an authorized controlled location.

Keep current and historical routes separate

The official Groundwater Advisory Unit page identifies current unit and Form GW-2 context. The separate researching groundwater determinations and data page describes an All Applications search for GW-1 and GW-2 materials. Those sources distinguish current routes; they do not complete profileId 23.

Record profile context, attempt state, document state, and adjacent-route context separately. A current search does not prove the historical profile returned a result. A unit page does not prove a letter exists or applies. A microfilm reference does not establish what a letter says. Do not use one layer to fill a gap in another.

This article does not explain how to apply for, pay for, obtain, use, interpret, or rely on a determination letter. It does not state what water zones require protection, where casing or cement should be set, whether a well or activity complies, or whether an environmental or engineering condition exists. Those are separate tasks requiring current source instructions and, where appropriate, qualified professional review.

Apply fail-closed outcomes

Use located only when a completed, attributable manual profileId 23 attempt displays responsive material. Located means the source displayed something; it does not mean the material is complete, current, correct, applicable, or legally sufficient.

Use not located only when the official profile loaded, displayed criteria were recorded, controlled criteria were accepted, manual submission completed, and the source displayed an empty result attributable to those criteria without any block, login, error, timeout, validation, session, CAPTCHA, viewer, or interpretation problem.

Use unverified for every other state. The current HTTP 403 attempt is unverified. Do not change eras, log in, contact an agency, request microfilm, pay, use another profile, or repeat searches merely to obtain a different label.

Blank provenance template

Field	What to preserve
Attempt ID	Neutral internal identifier
Official route	Directory, Imaged Records, menu, and profile URLs
Profile identity	Displayed label and profileId=23
Attempted at	Date, clock time, and explicit timezone
Source-described scope	Each era and route boundary, exactly as displayed
Criteria schema	Exact source-displayed labels, if accessible
Controlled criteria ref	Restricted reference to entered or selected values
Access/result state	Exact response, displayed state, error, timeout, or empty-result wording
Document/viewer state	Row, link, image, download, viewer state, or none displayed
Evidence reference	Restricted capture with timestamp and integrity reference
Outcome	Located, not located, or unverified
Limitations	Missing steps, route boundaries, access blocks, and prohibited inferences
Recheck or handoff	Authorized next step and responsible party

Keep the template blank until an actual authorized attempt supplies a field. Never insert example identifiers that could be mistaken for a real letter, coordinate, well, operator, property, owner, depth, or result.

Handoff without expanding the claim

A later reviewer should be able to reproduce what happened from the route, profile identity, timestamp, criteria reference, exact displayed state, evidence location, outcome rule, and limitations. A located result still requires a separately authorized interpretation task. A not-located label applies only to the recorded criteria and completed attempt. An unverified record preserves uncertainty without converting it into absence.

The useful output is narrow: one profile, one controlled criteria set, one manual attempt, one evidence chain, and one bounded outcome. That provenance can support later work without becoming an environmental, engineering, compliance, property, ownership, valuation, legal, or transaction conclusion.

Sources reviewed for this article

Frequently asked questions

Does a located determination letter prove a groundwater, casing, or compliance fact for my property?

No. Located means only that one recorded manual profile attempt displayed responsive material. It does not establish completeness, property connection, protected-water zones, casing or cementing requirements, environmental or engineering conditions, compliance, ownership, title, value, or legal effect.

Can an HTTP 403 response be labeled not located?

No. HTTP 403 is an access state, not an empty result. Record it as unverified. Not located requires a completed empty result attributable to accepted criteria.

Can I substitute RRC Online, a direct records request, or microfilm for the profile attempt?

No. Those are separate routes with different access, time, cost, and evidence states. Preserve each separately and do not substitute one route for another.

Does the source-described date range prove the profile is complete?

No. Preserve the range and access date as source-described collection scope without inferring completeness or the existence of a particular letter.

Can this retrieval be automated or repeated in bulk?

No. This worksheet authorizes one manual attempt only and does not authorize scraping, automated or volume retrieval, repeated queries, bypasses, CAPTCHA handling, login, payment, or workarounds.

Sources reviewed for this article

• Texas RRC, Research Queries (accessed 2026-08-25)
• Texas RRC, Imaged Records (accessed 2026-08-25)
• Texas RRC, Imaged Records Query Menu (accessed 2026-08-25)
• Texas RRC, Groundwater Advisory Unit (accessed 2026-08-25)
• Texas RRC, Researching Groundwater Determinations and Data (accessed 2026-08-25)