A five-year drought has reduced the reservoir to just over 9% capacity, revealing dry lakebeds and forcing difficult choices about water for residents and industry.<\/p>\n
The wide drying of the shores of Lake Corpus Christi in Texas reveals stretches of exposed lakebed, ruined piers, and previously submerged objects of history \u2013 from bridges to boathouses.<\/p>\n
During a recent visit, local resident Isabel Araiza, a college professor and cofounder of the civic initiative For the Greater Good, noted that the lake had changed so radically that she could hardly believe there was ever water there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a lawn\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Isabel Araiza<\/p>\n
Lake Corpus Christi is one of the city\u2019s main water sources along the Gulf Coast, but due to a five-year drought its level has fallen to historically low marks and stands at just over 9% of its full capacity.<\/p>\n
A similar picture is seen at other city water sources: Choke Canyon Reservoir is filled to less than 8%, while Lake Texana in the northeast is about 50%.<\/p>\n
Water supply crisis in Corpus Christi<\/p>\n
Such a sharp drop in water supplies is putting pressure on the city\u2019s infrastructure and could lead to the introduction of emergency water-use restrictions to prevent depletion and business shutdowns.<\/p>\n
The city hosts a significant petrochemical industry, steel plants, and gas and oil export facilities, which require water for cooling and cleaning during production.<\/p>\n
According to Rayana Hassler, vice president of Rystad Energy, Corpus Christi is in a \u201cunique position\u201d due to the scale of its industry and the arid climate.<\/p>\n
Only 12 companies use about 55% of the city\u2019s water, according to city manager Peter Zanoni.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, many plants have operated in the region for decades, but industrial demand is rising with the commissioning of new facilities that promise reliable water supplies for their needs.<\/p>\n
The main focus of efforts is the Inner Harbor desalination project. Initially, it was expected to ease the crisis, but the cost rose from about $757 million to nearly $1.3 billion, after which the city abandoned the project at a September public meeting.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the drop in water supplies has brought the issue back to the agenda: the city council is to select a new concept from another bidder in early April.<\/p>\n
Although the project is fully permitted and funded, desalination is expected to provide a robust and resilient water supply. But its cost and energy consumption remain key factors for consideration.<\/p>\n
The outlook remains challenging, and environmental and marine life issues are being discussed alongside the needs of residents and industry. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople want jobs. People want economic stability. They want water, don\u2019t they?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Isabel Araiza<\/p>\n
These challenges underscore the need for collaborative solutions among government, industry, and the public to secure water for the future and to preserve the region\u2019s economic viability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A five-year drought has reduced the reservoir to just over 9% capacity, revealing dry lakebeds and forcing difficult…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,23408,85662,157,156,85663,52294,85664,223],"class_list":["post-219617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi-drought","tag-corpus-christi-drought-desalination-cost-municipal-water-supply-industrial-water-use","tag-corpus-christi-headlines","tag-corpus-christi-news","tag-desalination-cost","tag-industrial-water-use","tag-municipal-water-supply","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}