Officials warn the delay is a pause, not a victory.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A major water emergency may have been pushed back for now, but city leaders warn the reprieve won’t last long. Despite projections that once pointed to severe shortages as early as 2026, regional officials say the crisis will be delayed into 2027.
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At City Hall today, leaders from Corpus Christi, Mathis, Alice, and Beeville gathered to compare progress on their emergency water projects. The National Weather Service didn’t sugarcoat it. Rain chances remain grim, and South Texas is still locked in severe drought. That’s why every city is scrambling to bring new wells and desal efforts online before reservoir levels drop any further.
Corpus Christi city manager Peter Zanoni said the region’s water supply continues to fall, and any city adding new sources helps the whole system stay afloat. Corpus is drilling wells along the Nueces River, hoping to stretch resources until bigger, long-term projects come online.
Alice is banking on its brackish desal system, which is inching closer to have two wells producing water. One of its two wells is complete, and the second is waiting on installation of a 700-horsepower motor. City manager Michael Esparza expects that motor to be in place and operating by the third week of January.
Mathis is also chasing new water, but its well schedule is shaky. City manager Cedric Davis said they still hope to have their wells producing by the end of January, though that depends on everything going right.
Beeville’s interim city manager said their new well should feed the system by late February. Even with those additions, Zanoni warned that a level 1 water emergency could eventually have to be declared. Because of that, Corpus Christi is pushing to draft its first-ever drought-curtailment plan before the end of December.