Texas Rubicon

To the right is a painting of Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon. A river-crossing issue also arose in Good River Farms, L.P. v. TXI Operations, L.P. A severe flood on the Colorado River breached a water reservoir on a commercial property, which in turn led to the flooding of a neighboring farm.

Liability under the Texas Water Code turned on whether “surface waters” (the water in the reservoir) caused the problem at the farm, or whether it was water from the Colorado River (not considered “surface water” under the Code, because the river is a “bed or channel in which water is accustomed to flow”).

The Fifth Circuit found sufficient evidence to support a judgment for the farm, reasoning that “[t]he jury apparently concluded that the water was not overflow fromthe river, but surface water accumulated in such quantity that it ran contrary to the riverine flow.” No. 23-50330 (April 25, 2024).