Officials with the City of Corpus Christi are sounding the alarm on a massive impending water crisis. The city estimates it won’t have enough water to meet demand by June of next year, thanks in part to an ongoing drought in the region.
Another major factor is the increase in demand over the last several years—both due to industrial growth and general population growth. There were plans as early as 2016 to address that issue with desalination plants, but for a myriad of reasons, those plans have fallen short.
Texas State Senator Charles Perry, who chairs the Senate’s Committee on Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs, says one of the biggest reasons those plans have fallen through is: “Locals did not want to pay for water, and that is one aspect that we’re seeing play out in Corpus that we’re gonna have conversations about around the state.”
He warned that as growth and demand continue to increase across the state of Texas, other cities are going to run into the same problem as Corpus Christi: a demand for more water, a need for water desalination plants, and an unrealistic timeline in which to get them up and running.
That’s why Perry is advising other coastal municipalities to get out ahead of the issue and start working on desalination plants now. “If you need a water supply out in 10–20 years, and you’re not actually developing that water supply today, you won’t have your water supply met in 20 years,” he said.
Essentially, this is something that requires immense forward planning, a willingness by the public to invest in the future, and a willingness of politicians to act on the need for these plants.