Texas Attorney General Opinion: JM-1173 Page: 3 of 8
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Honorable John Whitmire - Page 3 (JM-1173)
We have concluded that the proposed facili-
ties, which include a community center, three
swimming pools, four tennis courts, and a
clubhouse, do not further a purpose of
section 54.012 of the Water Code or of
article XVI, g 59 of the Texas Constitution.
(Emphasis added.)
Harris County Water Control Improvement Dist. No. 110 v.
Texas Water Rights Comm'n, 593 S.W.2d 852, 855 (Tex. Civ.
App. - Austin 1980, no writ); cf. Attorney General Opinion
H-491 (1975) (recreational use of waters and forests, "once
developed and conserved," may be within contemplation of the
constitution).
The following year, in 1981, this office was asked
whether the construction of certain park and recreation
facilities by the Upper Guadalupe River Authority, "on its
soon to be completed reservoir," would be in furtherance of
the purposes for which the district was created. The
"facilities" were reservoir areas to be landscaped; areas to
be made suitable for swimming, parking, restrooms, boat
ramps, picnic tables, lighting, roads, and fencing. (The
resulting opinion did not explicitly confirm that payment
was to be made from taxes, but, because of the holding of
the opinion, that consideration is not relevant here.)
Attorney General opinion MW-313 (1981) observed in that
connection:
The reservoir in this case is being
constructed primarily to control and store
water on the Guadalupe River as a surface
water supply for the city of Kerrville, in
compliance with the constitutional purposes
of the district and the statutory priorities
of water usage. one secondary use of the
reservoir as enumerated by the legislature is
recreation and pleasure.
The opinion read the Harris County Water Control and
Improvement District case as saying that "recreational
facilities per se" are not prohibited, but
are limited by the standard set out by the
court to-wit: '[t]he power to construct re-
creational facilities must be exercised to
further a purpose of section 54.012 [Texas
Water Code] to be justified and constitu-
tional.' Id at 854. The court had pre-
viously stated that '[s]ection 54.012 of the
Texas Water Code, entitled "Purposes of ap. 6185
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: JM-1173, text, May 10, 1990; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth273611/m1/3/: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.