I don’t imagine many of us in Texas, particularly South of San Antonio, who aren’t aware of Corpus Christi’s water woes.
It’s hardly new – drive out Texas 35 from Bay City and see the infrastructure that Corpus built to pull Colorado River water near the Texas 35 river bridge.
That came from Corpus buying Garwood Irrigation Company run- of-the-river rights in the 1990s.
Corpus Christi started moving that water to Nueces County via the Mary Rhodes Pipeline Phase II completed in 2016 to connect the Colorado River, near Bay City, to Lake Texana.
Needless to say Corpus has lots of straws in regional water holes. The problem is there isn’t enough water to meet demand.
Again, that’s hardly news. But it is troubling because we’ve all had plenty of time to digest the long-range implications for all of us.
Three days ago, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times quoted the city’s mayor as saying the city isn’t running out of water.
Gov. Greg Abbott waived some regulations for Corpus Christi groundwater wells. The Caller posted that Monday night.
The Texas Tribune reported a week ago that the city “careens toward water catastrophe.”
And, in another South Texas city worrying about water, mysanantonio.com said drought pushes reservoirs to historic lows.
I’m bringing all of this up because we’re all facing a water crisis – urgent needs for new water sources and infrastructure upgrades.
My good friend Haskell Simon, who died in 2020, did his level best to keep water supply in front of Matagorda County residents.
Some listened, some scoffed, but we all should move on all of those alerts Haskell placed in front of us.
Haskell helped create the Coastal Plains Groundwater Conservation District.
I came to Bay City in 1997 after spending most of the previous years in Kerrville and in Odessa.
I know flood is the word most associated with Kerrville, but drought and a dry Guadalupe River also have dominated people’s discussions there.
And Odessa? Well, it gets its water from San Angelo and other far-flung places. Scary that is.
Bay City took out bonds to build new water wells to address its long-term water needs. That’s good but we need to keep looking – for more water and ways to get it.
I remember Corpus some time ago was in the vanguard of cities considering desalinization of seawater.
Apparently, the project was moving ahead, then it wasn’t. And now the governor is pointing at the desal plant as evidence of the city’s careless water plans.
All I’m saying this will always be a priority. After all, there isn’t anything without water.
