As Corpus Christi is dealing with a worsening water crisis, Governor Greg Abbott recently unleashed a barrage of criticism on the coastal city’s local government.
Abbott is accusing city leaders of squandering state support to address the region’s shrinking water supply and faulting them for failing to make a decision on finding a solution. He has also threatened possible state intervention if they don’t act soon.
Abbott’s verbal dressing down has become the latest flashpoint in a crisis that has been years in the making, one shaped not only by drought, but by local political choices overgrowth, water planning and whether to move ahead with a costly desalination plant.
Corpus Christi’s problem did not appear overnight. As the Coastal Bend became a magnet for refineries, petrochemical facilities and export-related industry, water demand rose sharply.
At the same time, drought drained the region’s reservoirs and left city leaders under growing pressure to secure new supply. Observers have described the current emergency as the result of a decade of missteps, with officials quick to sell vast quantities of local water to industries but slow to line up enough replacement water.
At the center of the political fight is desalination. City leaders spent years advancing a major Inner Harbor seawater desalination project, arguing it was essential to the city’s long-term future.
But the plan became increasingly divisive, as projected costs rose and environmental concerns mounted. In 2025, the City Council voted to kill that project, leaving Corpus Christi without the large new supply source that had been central to its strategy.
Now, with the city warning that a water emergency could arrive within months, critics say indecision and delay have caught up with local government.
Also central to the fight over water is who should pay for acquiring new supplies.
Because over half of the city’s water supply is used by industries, local organizers question why the city’s residential consumers should pay higher water rates to solve a problem they didn’t create.
Abbott’s criticism, however, leaves out some important context. The governor’s reference to $750 million was not a direct state grant but largely a set of state-backed loan commitments tied specifically to desalination. Corpus Christi officials say they are now pursuing a mix of groundwater wells, reclaimed water and new desalination efforts to stretch supplies.
Guest:
William J. Chriss, J.D., Ph.D. is a Corpus Christi attorney and commentator on local politics.
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