An Anderson County district judge ruled late Monday that she will not reconsider a court-approved settlement in a case pitting a group of poultry and cattle farmers against the Neches & Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District that could restrict or even prohibit Dallas businessman Kyle Bass from drilling for millions of gallons of water on two of his East Texas ranches.
In a two-page order, Senior District Judge Deborah Oakes Evans rejected legal efforts by Bass to set aside a final judgment in a case in which Sanderson Farms and five East Texas poultry and cattle farmers had sued Neches & Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District to prevent the kind of drilling for water that Bass seeks to do.
The ruling is a setback for Bass, who sought to intervene in the litigation. The Sanderson Farms plaintiffs reached a settlement with the water district, and then Anderson County District Judge C. Michael Davis approved the agreement in a final judgment order he signed on Oct. 24.
Judge Evans was assigned the case when Judge Davis was promoted to the Tyler Court of Appeals.
Lawyers for Bass filed their motion to intervene and a motion to set aside the final judgment Oct. 31.
Jeff Tillotson, a lawyer representing Bass, said Tuesday that he will appeal the decision to the Tyler Court of Appeals.
“Sometimes you win in regulation, and sometimes you have to win in overtime,” Tillotson said.
Two Bass-owned real estate entities — Pine Bliss, a 4,300-acre property that serves as the Bass family ranch in Henderson County, and Redtown Ranch Holdings, a 7,200-acre ranch in Anderson County — claimed in their motion to intervene that the water district’s agreement with the Sanderson Farms plaintiffs violate Bass’ constitutional rights to access and use the water on his own property.
The Bass entities also filed a separate lawsuit Oct. 31 against the water district in neighboring Cherokee County seeking to force the agency to rule on their request to conduct exploratory water drilling.
In two interesting twists, Senior Judge Evans has also been assigned to handle the Bass entities lawsuit in Cherokee County, while Judge Davis, who issued the final judgment order in October in the Sanderson Farms case, is sitting on the state appeals court that will eventually both matters.
The lawyers representing the growers include Clayton Bailey and Jared Wilkinson of Bailey Brauer. Lawyers for Sanderson Farms include David Deaconson and Will Gray of Pakis, Giotes, Burleson & Deaconson, and Stacey Reese of Stacey Reese Law. Spencer Nealy and Patrick Lindner of Davidson Troilo Ream & Garza are representing the Consolidated Water Supply Corporation.
The lawyers for Bass include Jeff Tillotson, Mollie Mallory, Sara Babineaux and Enrique Ramirez of Tillotson Johnson & Patton in Dallas.
The case is Sanderson Farms v. Neches & Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District, No. 25-5642-369.