{"id":338749,"date":"2026-06-16T19:17:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T19:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/338749\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T19:17:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T19:17:41","slug":"corpus-christi-water-shortage-highlights-desalination-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/338749\/","title":{"rendered":"Corpus Christi water shortage highlights desalination debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Corpus Christi could soon face widespread water curtailment as its water supply dwindles<\/a>. One controversial, long-term solution to its water problems was the center of public debate at a June city council meeting.<\/p>\n

Dozens of speakers showed<\/a> up to protest a new desalination plant that would produce 30 million gallons of fresh water daily. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are told by city leaders that Corpus Christi must continue growing because industrial expansion is inevitable,\u201d said Armon Alex, a local climate activist. \u201cBut very rarely are we asked a different question about growth for whom?\u201d<\/p>\n

The majority of speakers opposed building a new desalination plant in Corpus Christi\u2019s inner harbor. Some spoke in favor of the project. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Inner Harbor Desalination Project represents our best opportunity to drought-proof our water supply,\u201d said Sarah Tindall of the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation. <\/p>\n

The debate reflects a broader question facing the sleepy beach city and energy export hub, which has seen significant industrial growth<\/a>: how to affordably secure new water supplies during a historic drought while minimizing environmental impacts. <\/p>\n

Carrie Meyer, who owns a kayaking business in Corpus Christi, is open-minded about desalination in general but opposes the Inner Harbor Desalination Project. For one, the city needs water now. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Inner Harbor is a long-term project. [It\u2019s] not going to solve our problem overnight,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Understanding desalination<\/p>\n

Meyer, who lives near the water on Corpus Christi Bay, said she worries about the brine sent back into the bay after the desalination process. \u201cThey’re sucking all the fresh water out, and they’re putting the salt back in, so that salt can raise the level of the salt in the water. And that’s bad for fish.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the environmental studies so far aren\u2019t comprehensive enough to know the full impacts. She\u2019s part of a committee at the city seeking more data. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be a really serious environmental disaster,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat will that do to my business? What will that do to tourism as a whole?\u201d <\/p>\n

Jason Hale with the local Sierra Club agrees and said the bays are already salinity-stressed. \u201cSo we shouldn’t be making that worse by doing desalination in the bay,\u201d Hale said. <\/p>\n

Hale noted that while it\u2019s industrial users who have driven demand growth for water, the cost is being spread among everyone.<\/p>\n

Water bills are expected to increase both for residents and industrial users if the desalination project goes through. <\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Above, the Choke Canyon Reservoir on May 7. Corpus Christi relies heavily on the Choke Canyon Reservoir for water supply. The reservoir’s water levels continue declining due to prolonged drought.<\/p>\n

Brandon Bell\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Hale points the blame at outdated planning and not industry for the water issues, but said industrial users should have to pay for new desalination projects, and that those plants should be located further in the ocean, away from the bay. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes sense to do it offshore and to make them pay for it and then call it a day,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

As for the industrial sector, Kent Britton, CEO of the Port of Corpus Christi, said the city\u2019s water problems are already holding back investment from new companies. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have had a couple that were very favorable to come in here in past years, who ended up making a decision not to because of the dwindling water supplies,\u201d Britton said. \u201cAnd we’ll have more.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said desalination plants \u2014 which are becoming increasingly popular around the world \u2014 are a good option. He expects one day these plants will be located across the Texas coast. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s the only way you’re going to be able to continue to grow, because surface water by itself is unpredictable,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

But Corpus Christi isn\u2019t there just yet. City Council voted to delay its decision<\/a> to move forward with the inner harbor desalination project until fall. By then, Corpus Christi could be even closer to imposing widespread water restrictions on businesses and residents.<\/p>\n

Related Topics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Corpus Christi could soon face widespread water curtailment as its water supply dwindles. One controversial, long-term solution to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156,120778,96267,120779,27,41120],"class_list":["post-338749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi-headlines","tag-corpus-christi-news","tag-desainlation","tag-energy-exports","tag-industrialization","tag-texas","tag-water-crisis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338749","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=338749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}