City of Austin v. Howard

Appeal is from a judgment, based upon a special issue verdict, in favor of Howard against the City of Austin, for $15,000 damages to his land and nursery stock caused by the 1938 overflow of the Colorado River. Howard's 40 acres of land, on which he operated a nursery, is located in the Colorado River valley some three or four miles east of, or down the river from, the City of Austin, and subject to overflows from the river. In 1936, the City of Austin established a sewage disposal plant south of and between Howard's tract and the main channel of the river. At this point the course of the…