A rural community in South Texas is at risk of running out of water much sooner than it anticipated as the Coastal Bend stares down a looming water crisis, and city officials are placing the blame squarely on Corpus Christi.

Officials in Three Rivers, the tiny town of 1,800 people that’s located along U.S. 281 about 70 miles northwest of Corpus Christi, issued a news release on Monday, March 23, to announce that the town is under imminent threat of being unable to access its primary water source, Choke Canyon Reservoir. That’s because Corpus Christi water officials will soon release water from Choke Canyon into Lake Corpus Christi – something that had not been accounted for under previous water supply projections.

“As a result of their inaccurate water projections, the City of Corpus Christi has notified the City of Three Rivers that they will be releasing more water from Choke (Canyon) to Lake Corpus Christi and soon leaving the City of Three Rivers unable to draw water from Choke Canyon Reservoir,” the news release reads.

That news is a radical change from assurances that Corpus Christi had made to Three Rivers city leaders as recently as January, and could mean the small town, which is perhaps best known for the Valero oil refinery that sits along the main highway, unable to tap into its primary water source a year earlier than previously anticipated.

“WE WERE TOLD WE WOULD HAVE CHOKE CANYON WATER AVAILABLE TO DRAW INTO APRIL AND MAY OF 2027,” the Three Rivers news release reads.

Now, the small town, which had relied upon those assurances, has been left scrambling to fast track plans to diversify where they source their water from, including reaching out to state water regulators for environmental clearance to pending water infrastructure projects.

“Most importantly, the City of Three Rivers is actively accelerating the implementation of our second and third alternative water supply options to achieve continued water service and stability,” officials said.

According to The Progress, a division of South Texas News, the city began pumping water from the Frio River, which feeds into Choke Canyon, in January 2025. Three Rivers also began planning to dig groundwater wells in Woodward County to supplement an existing one there. Three Rivers also maintains a handful of wells in Campbellton, in Atascosa County, that draw water from the Carrizo Aquifer. As of Monday, Choke Canyon Reservoir is 8% full, according to Water Data For Texas. Choke Canyon is the one of the largest water sources for the Coastal Bend, second only to Lake Corpus Christi.

This article originally published at Tiny Texas town may run out of water soon, blames Corpus Christi.