Tex. Water Code § 11.050
This is the official text of Tex. Water Code § 11.050, part of Texas’s Water Code — governs water rights and water resource management.
Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
§ 11.050. TIDEWATER GATES, ETC.
Official statutory text
(a) An appropriator authorized to take water for irrigation, subject to the laws of the United States and the regulations made under its authority, may construct gates or breakwaters, dams, or dikes with gates, in waters wholly in this state, as necessary to prevent pollution of the fresh water of any river, bayou, or stream due to the ebb and flow of the tides of the Gulf of Mexico.
(b) The work shall be done in such a manner that navigation of vessels on the stream is not obstructed, and where any gate is used, the appropriator shall at all times keep a competent person at the gate to allow free navigation.
(c) A dam, dike, or breakwater constructed under this section may not be placed at any point except where Gulf tides ebb and flow and may not be constructed so as to obstruct the flow of fresh water to any appropriator or riparian owner downstream.
(b) The work shall be done in such a manner that navigation of vessels on the stream is not obstructed, and where any gate is used, the appropriator shall at all times keep a competent person at the gate to allow free navigation.
(c) A dam, dike, or breakwater constructed under this section may not be placed at any point except where Gulf tides ebb and flow and may not be constructed so as to obstruct the flow of fresh water to any appropriator or riparian owner downstream.
Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site
Need a lawyer in Texas?
Find a Texas lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the
Open US Law dataset
(Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine
(Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.