<\/p>\n
The Port of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas.<\/p>\n
(Bloomberg) — Water shortages in South Texas are posing major risks to a fast-growing industrial hub that\u2019s crucial to President Donald Trump\u2019s twin goals of dominating global energy markets and slashing trade deficits.<\/p>\n
Most Read from Bloomberg<\/p>\n
Corpus Christi, a Gulf Coast city 400 miles (640 kilometers) south of Dallas, is in the grip of a worsening drought that\u2019s already prompted lawn-watering bans and warnings that harsher restrictions may be necessary. Seven years of abnormally dry weather coincided with rapid industrial growth in the nation\u2019s biggest oil-export hub, stretching supplies of fresh water. <\/p>\n
Municipal leaders are at odds over what to do. The city council recently halted work on a desalination plant that would have treated seawater after cost estimates spiraled to more than $1 billion and sparked outrage among some residents. The issue also tapped into long-simmering resentment of the growing industrial presence of major water users such as Exxon Mobil Corp., Koch Industries LLC, Celanese Corp., and Occidental Petroleum Corp.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
If the drought doesn\u2019t break in the next 12 months or so, even stricter usage limits may be necessary that would curb available supplies by 25%, officials have warned.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, yes, it\u2019ll impact\u201d industry, said Brian Williams, general manager of San Patricio Municipal Water District, which counts large companies among its biggest customers. \u201cThe current drought, it looks like it\u2019s not going to let up. Everybody\u2019s considering what options are available out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corpus Christi has grown from a remote 19th-century trading post to a critical nexus of the global oil, natural gas and chemical sectors. Since 2010, the city of 320,000 people has seen more than $57 billion of direct capital investment, according to economic development figures. The deepwater port is an export hub for Permian Basin crude and gas while the coastline is home to six refineries, an LNG terminal and several massive petrochemical plants.<\/p>\n
About half of the city\u2019s water supply now goes to commercial and industrial customers at a time when the inland river systems that feed the region are drying up. Choke Canyon Reservoir and Lake Corpus Christi, the city\u2019s main water sources, are currently just 12% full, as severe drought conditions constrain river flows for hundreds of miles around.<\/p>\n
Lawn watering already is prohibited in the city and severe restrictions are in effect for things like washing cars and maintaining swimming pools. The two main reservoirs are forecast to run so low by November 2026 that an emergency declaration will mandate even stricter curtailments.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody\u2019s worried about that date,\u201d said John Byrum, executive director of Nueces River Authority, which manages surface-water resources in the region.<\/p>\n
The struggle is pitting residents against heavy industry that provides jobs and tax revenues for schools, libraries and public safety. State climatologists aren\u2019t expecting the drought to break any time soon.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Byrum, along with some local representatives and businesses, wants to build a multi-phased seawater desalination plant that could eventually become the largest in the country. In addition to the short-term need, he expects water demand to rise 30% over the coming years as the city grows.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need more water for the future,\u201d he said. \u201cMy message to them is \u2018Hey, now\u2019s the time to get it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
But at a contentious, 12-hour meeting last month the city council voted to halt the desalination project, despite a $1 billion financing guarantee from the state.<\/p>\n
In one exchange, Councilwoman Carolyn Vaughn accused an official from Governor Greg Abbott\u2019s office of \u201cintimidating\u201d her to support the plan despite her concerns that it\u2019s too expensive and favors industry over residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis tells me they don\u2019t care if the citizens pay for this, even though we know its for industry,\u201d she said during the Sept. 2 meeting.<\/p>\n
Abbott\u2019s Chief of Staff Robert Black held talks with Vaughn and other local officials, encouraging them to move forward with the desalination plant, according to a statement from the governor\u2019s office. Black also warned them that failure to support the facility would \u201cwould be putting the state in very a bad situation when it comes to future projects as they have proven to be an untrustworthy partner,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe state has invested tremendous resources into this project \u2014 $235 million in direct funding, an offer of a $757 million below market-rate loan, and countless man-hours of assisting the City with navigating the permitting process and environmental reviews,\u201d according to the statement from Abbott\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
Mayor Paulette Guajardo\u2019s office said in a statement that although the vote \u201crepresented a setback in advancing our proposed seawater desalination project, our focus on securing a reliable long-term water source remains firm.\u201d The council will consider \u201cnew options and approaches\u201d later this month.<\/p>\n
The dispute erupted anew during an Oct. 7 meeting at which residents repeatedly blamed new industrial facilities such as the sprawling Exxon-Saudi Basic Industries Corp. petrochemical plant for hogging water supplies and raising residential bills.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a resident, I haven\u2019t seen any benefits to the area,\u201d Elida Castillo, program manager for the climate watchdog group Chispa Texas, said in an interview. \u201cThe abatements that they get, the low water rates that they enjoy, the amount of water that they consume, it\u2019s just made the quality of our life go down.\u201d<\/p>\n
An Exxon spokeswoman said their joint venture with Sabic \u201cwas designed to recycle water, and we continually look for ways to reduce our water use. We are also exploring alternative water sources in event of a curtailment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Big industrial users are making contingency plans, according to Mike Culbertson, who leads the Corpus Christi Regional Development Corporation that\u2019s charged with luring new businesses to the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no more cheap water,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a warning for all\u201d regions across the South looking to attract heavy industry. Koch Industries, Occidental and Celanese didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
Culbertson is now focusing on ways to continue the region\u2019s economic growth without making the situation worse: \u201cWe\u2019re looking to see what companies we can bring here that don\u2019t use a lot of water.\u201d<\/p>\n
–With assistance from Nathan Risser and Alex Newman.<\/p>\n
(Updates with mayor\u2019s comment in 18th paragraph.)<\/p>\n
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek<\/p>\n
\u00a92025 Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Port of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas. (Bloomberg) — Water shortages in South Texas are posing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[155,2991,2995,2992,2994,2996,27,29,28,2993,2997],"class_list":["post-2401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-corpus-christi","tag-desalination-plant","tag-koch-industries","tag-port-of-corpus-christi","tag-rapid-industrial-growth","tag-san-patricio-municipal-water-district","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-water-shortages","tag-water-sources"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401","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=2401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}