Texas Water Code - WATER § 11.050. Tidewater Gates, Etc.

(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.