Lower Colorado River Authority v. Texas Department of Water Resources

I file this dissent respectfully.

The central question in this appeal concerns the meaning of the term “unappropriated water” as used in Tex.Water Code Ann. § 11.134(b)(2) (Supp.1982).

The Colorado River rises in intermittent draws in Dawson County in West Texas and flows generally southeast approximately six hundred miles to its mouth on Mata-gorda Bay. I Texas State Historical Association, Handbook of Texas 380 (1952).

The Colorado and its tributaries, the principal ones being the Pedernales, Llano, San Saba, and Concho Rivers, have a drainage basin of approximately 37,800 square miles. Texas…