§ 113.001.Definitions

Two definitions that set the boundaries of a narrow waiver.

"Adjudicating a claim" means bringing a civil suit and prosecuting it to final judgment in court. The waiver is a waiver of immunity to suit, so the definition describes a completed case rather than a filing.

Arbitration is included where the contract requires it. The term also covers an authorized arbitration proceeding prosecuted to final resolution under any mandatory procedures established in the contract.

That inclusion matters for water supply contracts, which often carry their own dispute procedures. Without it, a district could argue that agreeing to arbitrate put the claim outside the waiver.

"Local district or authority" means a special-purpose district or authority, and the definition then lists them: levee improvement, drainage, irrigation, water improvement, water control and improvement, water control and preservation, fresh water supply, navigation, special utility, and river authorities.

It closes with any conservation and reclamation district, which is the constitutional category most Texas water districts are created under.

The list is long because the state’s water suppliers are many things. A power plant may buy water from a river authority in one basin and a water control and improvement district in the next, and the waiver has to reach both.