Clauses for Highway, Drainage, or Temporary Easement Purposes

When an easement is acquired or condemned, the purpose(s) of the easement must be described either in the preface to the easement property description or in a clause attached to the easement property description. This is also true concerning the intended duration of a temporary easement. The following examples are offered for use in describing the purpose of a general highway, drainage or temporary easement, and the duration of the latter. Note that it may be necessary to adapt the description to the specifics of the project and the parcel.
  • Permanent Easement for Highway Drainage Purposes
    “
    An easement for the purpose of opening, constructing and maintaining a permanent channel or drainage easement in, along, upon and across the premises described in the following property description, together with the right and privilege at all times of ingress and egress to and from said premises for the purpose of making any additions, improvements, modifications or repairs which the State deems necessary, and the right to remove from said premises and use, for highway purposes, any stone, earth, gravel or caliche or other road building material which may be excavated in the opening, construction or maintenance of said channel or drainage easement.”
  • Permanent Easement for General Highway Purposes
    (Note:
    While there is a strong preference for acquiring fee title, except where the parcel is to be used solely for drainage purposes, there may be circumstances where the acquisition of an easement for general highway purposes may be appropriate): “
    An easement for highway purposes, for the purposes of laying out, opening, constructing, operating, maintaining and reconstructing a highway facility thereon, together with necessary incidentals and appurtenances thereto, in, along, upon and across the tract or parcel of land in
    ____________
     County, Texas, more particularly described in the following property description.
    ”
  • Temporary Easement
    “A TEMPORARY EASEMENT for the duration of
    (insert number of months/years)
    from the date of possession of said easement
    (or, in the alternative, specify a duration following a specific date certain)
    for the purpose of
    (insert purpose for temporary easement),
    in, along, upon, and across the premises described in the following property description, with the temporary right and privilege of having ingress, egress, and regress in, along, upon, and across said tract of land for the purpose of
    (insert same purpose stated above).”