River authority safe from Hurricane Harvey suit

HOUSTON — A federal court in Texas reversed the trial court’s decision against the San Jacinto River Authority, which had mounted a jurisdictional challenge to one of several lawsuits in which a downstream property owner accused the river authority of causing or worsening flooding from its Lake Conroe reservoir into the West Fork of the San Jacinto River during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Governmental immunity protects the authority and its decision to release water, though not without its costs, helped minimize threats to life and property during the rainfall.