CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — On Tuesday night, the Corpus Christi City Council agreed to push back a vote on how much water refineries, businesses and households will have to cut back in usage if the city goes into a Level 1 emergency.
Right now, the city is in Stage 3 drought.
At the same time, Rio Grande Valley public officials wasted no time in sealing the deal on a $1 billion desalination project projected to deliver 50 million gallons of water per day in another drought-stricken region.
Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino, Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez, together with representatives from U.S. Desalination LLC and IDE Technologies and startup company RGV Desal, made the recent announcement at a news conference.
At a time when the state is the fastest growing in the U.S., public water supplies are dwindling because of population growth and drought hitting different regions across Texas.
The desalination plant will be constructed on South Padre Island.
Two hours north up the Texas coast, Corpus Christi leaders have been scrambling on emergency water plans because their water supply could run dry in less than a year if the drought continues and the city can’t find alternative water sources.
Last week, Corpus Christi Water executives delivered a 53-page plan to cut back on water usage. One idea is to reduce water consumption by 25% per household or risk taking a city fine.
At the Tuesday council meeting, elected officials expressed their discontent with the plan, effectively putting the critical vote on hold until a further date.
Corpus Christi is under great public pressure and from the governor’s office to finalize an emergency plan and find new water resources.
The city’s two primary sources of water, Choke Canyon Reservoir and Lake Corpus Christi, sit below 10%, according to the city’s website.
Late last year, city leaders pulled the plug on a highly controversial desalination plant.
A construction timeline for the Rio Grande Valley desalination plant is unknown at this time.