It\u2019s spring and Dallas-Fort Worth feels lush again.<\/p>\n
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Gardeners plant colorful flowers, runners take laps around White Rock Lake, and boaters and anglers rejoice in warmer days out on the water.<\/p>\n
Yet about 400 miles south in Corpus Christi, life looks much different. Residents there are restricting their water use and providers are scrambling to find other groundwater sources amid a historic shortage that looms over the coastal, but parched, city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The impending emergency grew more urgent recently thanks to a combination of a yearslong drought and delays in developing new reliable water sources needed to welcome new industrial customers.<\/p>\n
Related: For more stories and data on the impact of growth in\u00a0North Texas, visit dallasnews.com\/futurentx<\/a><\/p>\n Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The stark contrast between what\u2019s happening in Corpus Christi and the lushness in Dallas-Fort Worth suggests the water shortage to the south is more an isolated problem than a harbinger of what\u2019s to come in North Texas.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Or could the escalating water crisis happening there happen here?\u00a0<\/p>\n The Dallas Morning News posed that question to half a dozen water industry leaders and experts.<\/p>\n The consensus was clear. Right now, North Texas is abundantly hydrated, enough so to accommodate the Lone Star State\u2019s growth story that is rapidly drawing businesses and new residents from around the country.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n However, barring appropriate planning and execution, the region could eventually face its own catastrophe \u2013 especially while new entrants to the economy put fresh strains on already stretched energy and natural resources<\/a>.<\/p>\n In separate interviews, the situation was described by two experts as a \u201ccanary in a coal mine.\u201d<\/p>\n Andrea Garza and Brandon Oga kiss while sitting on a bench overlooking the new Bachman Lake spillway in Dallas, Monday, April 6, 2026.<\/p>\n Angela Piazza\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n \u201cThis can happen anywhere for a myriad of reasons,\u201d said Amy\u00a0Hardberger, professor at Texas Tech School of Law. \u201cNo place is safe from a shortage.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Hardberger said leaders need to make hard decisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n U.S. cities are considered successful if they\u2019re growing, she said, but there\u2019s a tension between new businesses bringing a higher economy and more people, but also a burden on local resources like water and power.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you are city leadership, you have to factor in whether you can meet these businesses\u2019 needs or just the increased demand over time,\u201d Hardberger said.<\/p>\n The other tough conversation communities are facing is the price tag on infrastructure.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Water supply projects, like a desalination plant or reservoir, may be pushed further into the future but the already expensive infrastructure projects have continued to rise in price.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe cheap water is gone,\u201d she said, \u201cbut it isn\u2019t going to get cheaper either.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018We have to be aggressive\u2019<\/p>\n Just days after Corpus Christi\u2019s impending water emergency made major headlines<\/a> in early March, Texas Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, spoke at Dallas Regional Chamber\u2019s 2026 State of Infrastructure event<\/a> about the importance of infrastructure planning.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Perry has been a leader in the push for Texas to make investments in its water. He most recently authored the legislation that created the framework for the state to invest a historic $20 billion over two decades into building out water capacity<\/a>.<\/p>\n He said North Texas is \u201cin good shape\u201d water-wise thanks to local planners, but noted the next version of the state\u2019s blueprint paints a worrying picture.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you need water 20 years from now, and you\u2019re not working on it today, you will not meet your water needs \u2026 everything in water is long term for lots of reasons,\u201d he said, mentioning Corpus Christi.<\/p>\n State Senator Charles Perry (right) of District 38, delivers the keynote address on water infrastructure for this gathered at the Dallas Regional Chamber\u2019s “State of Infrastructure” luncheon event at the EBJ Union Station in downtown Dallas, March 12, 2026.<\/p>\n Tom Fox\/Staff photographer<\/p>\n Perry said some of the biggest challenges around water planning and investment is the narrative around it \u2013 including residents who don\u2019t see a problem. They turn on the tap and water pours out.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWater is the one thing that we do not have a sense of urgency about,\u201d Perry said.<\/p>\n He called the $20 billion historic investment a \u201cdrop in the bucket,\u201d because the upcoming 2027 State Water Plan \u2013 a draft of which has been published<\/a> for public comment \u2013 will reflect $170 billion or more in water supply and infrastructure needs.<\/p>\n He pointed to opportunities to secure more water. Every area of the state, he believes, has an undeveloped water source. There also is the possibility of purchasing surface water from outside the state.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to be aggressive and get every single drop of water that anybody\u2019s going to sell us on surface level,\u201d he said, also listing water supplies can be obtained from aquifers and repurposing brackish water.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019re seeing it\u2019<\/p>\n Robert Mace, executive director at the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, said water providers across Texas should be thinking about what they would do if they found themselves in a situation similar to Corpus Christi.<\/p>\n Even proposed solutions \u2013 like building out more water supplies \u2013 have proven hard-fought and polarizing<\/a>. For example, the $7 billion Marvin Nichols Reservoir<\/a> in northeast Texas has been characterized by interregional infighting and local concerns that have delayed the project\u2019s development<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI tell communities to think about what they would do if their surface water supply dried up,\u201d Mace said. \u201cA lot of communities will probably say that would never happen, but we\u2019re seeing it. I\u2019m not saying build infrastructure when you totally lose your surface water supply but be thinking about what you do, and maybe there\u2019s some things that you could do today to be better prepared for something like that in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Ways communities can deal with uncertainty include building more robust water supplies, diversifying the sources of their supply, and planning beyond what\u2019s needed to last through a drought of record.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all risk management and how much risk you\u2019re willing to accept,\u201d Mace said. \u201cThere’s probably nothing that is a guaranteed water supply.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeremy Mazur, director of infrastructure and natural resources policy with nonprofit group Texas 2036, said now is the time to revisit the state\u2019s water planning process. He characterized the process as being on \u201cautopilot\u201d for nearly three decades.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Previously, officials used the \u201cdrought of record\u201d to plan for worst case scenarios but other elements can\u2019t be ignored. Hotter days last longer, residents and businesses are flocking to Texas in historic numbers and infrastructure is aging.<\/p>\n \u201cWe should have water plans because we\u2019re in a drought-prone state,\u201d Mazur said, \u201cbut we\u2019re seeing some preliminary evidence suggesting that the state and regional water plans were entirely off the mark with regard to anticipating [Corpus Christi\u2019s] crisis and delivering the infrastructure needed to make the city and the region more resilient to worsening droughts.\u201d<\/p>\n A Ruibal’s Plants of Texas gardener waters flowers in the nursery in downtown Dallas on Thursday, March 19, 2026.<\/p>\n Angela Piazza\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n State and regional water plans in the 2000s and early 2010s, Mazur said, didn\u2019t anticipate a water supply shortage to the scale and magnitude of what\u2019s happening on the coast. It wasn\u2019t until more recent water plans, he said, that officials flagged the need for more water supply infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re darn right this is a huge lesson learned,\u201d Mazur said. \u201c \u2026 To be clear, we need to have a water plan; it\u2019s no debate. What\u2019s happening raises a lot of questions with regard to the drought assumptions that we\u2019re using, but also, I think we need to be a little more aggressive in terms of talking about how we are identifying and delivering and building these water projects that our regions need for economic growth and drought resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n Some good examples have already been set, Mazur said, mentioning North Texas Municipal Water District\u2019s Bois d\u2019Arc Lake<\/a>. The Fannin County project was the first major reservoir in Texas in nearly 30 years when it was completed in 2022. It provides up to 82 million gallons of water a day and has been hailed as a feat of \u201cinfrastructure ingenuity.”<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe need to have a bigger conversation about water planning and how to make it better,\u201d Mazur said. \u201cI think there\u2019s probably some good lessons learned in what D-FW has done right when it comes to project delivery and development.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n New infrastructure in the works<\/p>\n Local water providers agree that planning is critical for communities across Texas, including in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The 2026 Region C Water Plan<\/a>, which includes North Texas counties, reports many of the water suppliers in the region will have to develop additional supplies before 2080 because some providers are already experiencing shortages. The counties with the largest water needs are Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant.<\/p>\n Jenna Covington, North Texas Municipal Water District\u2019s executive director and general manager, said meeting the needs multiplied by major growth isn\u2019t a new concept for the agency.<\/p>\n That growth is continuing at a rapid rate, she said, citing a statistic forecasting North Texas expected to add a staggering 3.7 million residents by 2050, which is more people than the entire state of California plans to add in the same timeframe.<\/p>\n Maintenance subcontractors Jared Flowers, back, and Rhett Edmondson with Water Tight Inc. and Texas Premiere Coatings use an epoxy to seal a crack between metal and concrete in treatment plant basins at North Texas Municipal Water District on Nov. 13, 2025, in Wylie.<\/p>\n Angela Piazza\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n Multiple supplemental water projects are in the works, including some focused on making use of existing supplies. That includes the Texoma Two Step project, which has two new pipelines allowing more Lake Texoma water to be mixed with water from Lake Lavon and Bois d\u2019Arc.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Expansions are also planned at the agency\u2019s water treatment plants in Leonard and Wylie.<\/p>\n \u201cThese types of projects will meet our needs here in the near term,\u201d Covington said. \u201cBeyond the next decade or so, we will need to move forward with some major supply projects to meet the needs of the region and of our organization.\u201d<\/p>\n Planning decades out is important because these massive projects can take a long time to be permitted and constructed. Meanwhile, water supplies, in some cases, are becoming located further away from their service area and the projects are becoming more complex.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re not looking far into the future, you\u2019re behind,\u201d Covington said. \u201c \u2026 There’s just so many great examples of how folks up this way have been taking steps forward to allow for the growth that we’re experiencing today to be sustained. With that said, we got to keep that up.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Dan Buhman, general manager of the Tarrant Regional Water District, also serves as chairman of the Texas Water Development Board\u2019s Region C Water Planning Group.<\/p>\n Buhman concluded one of Region C\u2019s most recent meetings with facts he said could serve as a reminder of why the work they\u2019re doing is so important. That includes every dollar invested in water restoration initiatives, which can produce as much as $4 in economic activity.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Spending time, material and emphasis on the foundation of the community \u201cpays dividends forever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s often not seen but it\u2019s certainly felt,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s felt by people not having to think about whether their tap will turn on, and that’s good. We want the foundation to be so strong that people can focus on other things, like building their family and building their community.\u201d<\/p>\n Some projects Tarrant Regional Water District has ongoing include a 150-mile long, 108-inch diameter Integrated Pipeline Project<\/a> with Dallas Water Utilities designed to move water from three East Texas reservoirs into Dallas-Fort Worth, constructing wetlands and testing aquifer storage and recovery.<\/p>\n Both Covington and Buhman said implementing more conservation and reuse strategies and educating the public are integral to meeting the region\u2019s current and future water needs.<\/p>\n Water system manager Kelly Rouse explains, after water is filtered through sand and anthracite, it is pumped through underground pipes at North Texas Municipal Water District into a clear well on Nov. 13, 2025, in Wylie.<\/p>\n Angela Piazza\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n \u2018Water bankruptcy\u2019<\/p>\n Above all, ensuring Texans have enough water will require buy-in from all levels, including residents, water utilities, developers, lawmakers, and more, said Giovanni Piccinni, director of Texas A&M Agrilife\u2019s Texas Water Resources Institute.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cSomething like [Corpus Christi] could happen anywhere,\u201d Piccinni said, \u201cif we don\u2019t start thinking of water as a non-renewable resource.\u201d<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n A report released by the United Nations earlier this year determined that the world has \u201cmoved beyond a water crisis and into a state of global water bankruptcy.\u201d Officials concluded many regions experience persistent shortages with no realistic ability to return to baselines that have prevailed for decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSo what are we going to do as a response to that?,\u201d Piccinni asked. \u201c \u2026 We can\u2019t go back and look at the past, but in a city in an urban area, like Dallas that is growing as much as it is, we can make a difference for the future to protect water resources.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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