Lower Colorado River Authority v. Texas Department of Water Resources

KILGARLIN, Justice.

This appeal of an administrative order affecting water rights poses the question of what constitutes unappropriated water. The Texas Department of Water Resources, through its judicial division, the Texas Water Commission, issued a permit1 to the Colorado River Municipal Water District allowing it to impound water from the Colorado River to form a lake and to use annually 113,000 acre-feet of water from the river. The Lower Colorado River Authority, Garwood Irrigation Company and Lakeside Irrigation Company contested the proceeding and appealed to the District Court of…