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After the Texas Legislature stripped away municipal control of extraterritorial jurisdictions during its last session, landowners and developers are champing at the bit to build outside the reach of local governments.

That's made water the latest weapon in the arsenal for municipalities looking to regain control over how development progresses outside their boundaries. The back-and-forth has landed in the state's highest court, the latest battle in a simmering war over who controls the outskirts of Texas towns and cities.

“The cities are losing their authority and their control over [extraterritorial jurisdiction] land,” Huffines Communities co-owner Phillip Huffines said at a Bisnow event last month. “Most of the communities being built in the future will be built in the counties, which don't have zoning control.”