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Live Oak County v. Lower Nueces River Water Supply District

446 S.W.2d 14, 1969 Tex. App. LEXIS 2887
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 25, 1969
Docket7069
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 446 S.W.2d 14 (Live Oak County v. Lower Nueces River Water Supply District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Live Oak County v. Lower Nueces River Water Supply District, 446 S.W.2d 14, 1969 Tex. App. LEXIS 2887 (Tex. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

KEITH, Justice.

The appeal is from a take-nothing judgment entered after a jury verdict adverse *16 to Live Oak County had been received and accepted by the trial court. Since this is the fourth appeal 1 involving an order of the Commissioners Court of Live Oak County entered on November 26, 1957, a review of the background of the case and the earlier decisions will be helpful to an understanding of the issues raised by this appeal. The appellant, Live Oak County, will be referred to herein simply as the “County.” The appellee is a conservation and reclamation district created under the provisions of Article 8280-134, Vernon’s Ann.Civ.St., adopted pursuant to the provisions of Article 16, Section 59 of the Constitution of the State of Texas Vernon’s Ann.St. It will be referred to hereinafter simply as the “District.”

I. General Background

Although created by Legislative enactment in 1949, the District was still a “paper district” until after litigation involving its boundaries was completed early in 1955. Lower Nueces River Water Supply District v. Cartwright, 274 S.W.2d 199, 207 (San Antonio, Tex.Civ.App., 1954, error ref. n. r. e.). Immediately thereafter, District began the construction of the Wesley E. Seale Dam, an $18,000,000 project, across the Nueces River, the dam itself being located in Jim Wells and San Patricio Counties. The impounded waters created Lake Corpus Christi, which inundated the road and bridge involved in this suit, situated in Live Oak County upstream from the new dam.

In the Injunction Appeal (312 S.W.2d at 698), the court described the road, prior to the closing of the gates on the dam, in these words:

“The Lagarto bridge and road in question are located near the upper reaches of the present Lake Corpus Christi. The road, speaking generally, extends from a point on State Highway 9, across the Nueces River to the farm community of Lagarto. The Lagarto road in question is a caliche road, maintained by the County. The facilities for crossing the Nueces River itself and arms of the present Lake Corpus Christi on the Lagarto road consist of a steel trestle bridge over the main channel of the river and approaches, and two wooden bridges or structures over arms of the lake. * * The road serves the sparsely populated Lagarto farm and ranch community on the west side of the Nueces River, and accommodates those persons who want to pass from east to west over the Lagarto road to Lagarto or from La-garto to the east.”

We attach hereto a schematic drawing showing the location of the old Lagarto road after the gates of the dam had been closed and the reservoir filled. The alternate routes available, which are mentioned in the Injunction Appeal, are shown thereon.

*17

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Bluebook (online)
446 S.W.2d 14, 1969 Tex. App. LEXIS 2887, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/live-oak-county-v-lower-nueces-river-water-supply-district-texapp-1969.