(The Center Square) – At a local town hall meeting in Goliad, Texas, several county judges met to discuss a looming water crisis. They argue Corpus Christi officials are creating a crisis compounded by a drought and lack of leadership by state lawmakers.
Most of south Texas is experiencing a drought. The city of Corpus Christi sells water to municipalities. It is currently in a drought and implemented water restrictions. Last September, city council members voted to terminate a controversial $1.2 billion desalination plant project after receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from the state to build it. The decision halted years of planning and created another $122 million in debt, KRIS TV reported. Gov. Greg Abbott’s office has been involved, urging city council members to vote for the project or lose state funding. They voted against it, The Center Square reported. Despite this, the state continues to approve Corpus Christi water plans.
City officials have also claimed the city and region won’t run out of water despite large industries using more than 25 million gallons a day, water tables being down and lakes at low levels. The judges disagree and argue Corpus officials caused the problem by profiting from industries draining water from the Evangeline Aquifer and most recently pumping water in Nueces County.
Municipalities provide water services, not counties, but water shortages are a county issue as they impact all residents, the judges said. Residents in rural areas have wells and neighboring counties are seeing massive water table drops.
In Jim Wells County, Orange Grove officials said recent changes in the city’s groundwater system, including shifts in water levels and water quality, occurred after Corpus officials began pumping water. “We are seeing changes that are outside normal conditions, and we are taking proactive steps to protect our water supply,” officials said. They have since hired experts to investigate the sudden drop and say they may have to mandate water conservation measures soon.
City Manager Todd Wright said the city could reach a water emergency within a few months. He said they’ve been monitoring conditions since last June. After Abbott issued emergency orders in March allowing for more rural pumping permits, he said officials recorded a dramatic drop in water levels, KRIS TV News reported.
The judges said they must act now to ensure their residents don’t run out of water.
“I’m going to do my best to get all of the county judges on board because it’s a Texas issue. It’s not a Corpus Christi or a Goliad issue,” Goliad County Judge Mike Bennett, who organized the meeting, said. “Everybody’s got to get on the board. We absolutely have to fight because they cannot steal our water. They’re taking yours and ours too. A desal plant will work fine for the city of Corpus or the city of Aransas Pass. But when you live out on 1961 and you have a 150-foot well that’s long way to the road. That’s your water source and no one’s going to bring you water. We have to preserve this aquifer. It means the same thing for everyone else. It means that we’re going to preserve our way of life. It means that we’re going to continue to have livestock, live where we live. And without water, property values will go to practically nothing. We’d have to sell our cattle, and it all goes downhill from there.”
San Patricio County Judge David Krebs said county residents are worried and he and other officials have warned Corpus officials for years that decisions they made were negatively impacting neighboring counties. Fifty-four counties depend on water from the aquifer. Residents, farmers and ranchers depend on the water for irrigation. If Corpus officials drain the aquifer, the result will be catastrophe, he said. He described how local lakes and rivers have been drained and the “surface water is drying up awful fast.”
“Fifteen years ago, we all enjoyed what was going on in this area. We had industry that was coming in here left and right. San Patricio County is a big benefactor of all that industry that was coming in here. People were moving in, all the workers were coming in here, but county leaders at the time and Corpus Christi leaders did not do anything to improve the water source,” he said. He also said people thought when the Mary Rhodes Pipeline was built from Lake Texana it would solve the water problem. “It created a water problem,” he said. By November, the lake could be dry, he said. Lake Corpus Christi is already so low that home values there have plummeted, KIII News reported.
Refugio County Judge Jhiela “Gigi” Poynter said her county is facing similar issues because 100% of its water usage comes from groundwater. With increased fracking, growing populations and industry growth, the region is expanding, which “is great for the local economy,” she said. “But these industrial plants take up a ton of water. I think everyone that was so eager to get these plants in and get the industry going perhaps putting the cart before the horse to a certain degree. The infrastructure planning or preparation either wasn’t considered or was ignored and pushed maybe down the road to handle at a later date. And for better or worse, this is the later date. We need to do something now.”
Krebs said the Texas Constitution protects Texans’ water rights. “It says that you are entitled to that water underneath your property and land that you own. Somebody cannot come in there and buy it. That has never been changed. We need to get with our state leaders now, especially because this is not our problem. It’s a statewide issue. Everywhere you go here, people are talking about.
“Every time I give a talk somewhere, I point out east. The Gulf of America: that’s our long-term solution. But that’s three to five years down the road. What are we going to do in-between? We’ve got to have some kind of solution. State lawmakers and Gov. Abbott, they need to start stepping in and listening to us.”
