The Texas Attorney General's office has taken sides for the first time in a four-year dispute over whether the public can reach a stretch of old Trinity River water in Henderson County, and it sided with the residents who want it reopened, The Texas Tribune reported Tuesday.
In an opinion filed ahead of oral arguments at the 12th Court of Appeals in Tyler, the agency asked the courts to find that Creslenn Lake, which connects to a section known as the Cutoff, is a public waterway. A trial judge had ruled the water was not navigable, the legal test for public access.
"The trial court ignored the historic use of Creslenn Lake and erred in its conclusion that neither the Cutoff nor the old Cedar Creek are navigable," the office wrote, according to the Tribune.
How the fight started
The Cutoff was carved off from the main channel of the Trinity River to ease shipping between the Gulf and Dallas. People in southern Henderson County fished and camped along it for more than a century, the Tribune reported. After businessman Phillip Surls bought the surrounding land, the last remaining boat ramp was fenced off, and the dispute dates to 2022, according to the Tribune.
Residents formed a nonprofit, Save the Cutoff, which has lost almost every round in court so far. Its lawyer, Eric Allmon, told the Tribune the state's arguments "only strengthen" what he sees as an already strong case.
