This article is co-published with ProPublica and The Texas Tribune as part of an initiative to report on state and federal efforts to restrict local control.
The Corpus Christi region, in the midst of an ongoing water crisis, has experienced another setback: Design work has halted on a pipeline that’s supposed to deliver water to communities across the state because the tiny river authority that promised to develop the project hasn’t offered them a renewed contract, KRIS-6 has learned.
Two years ago, the Nueces River Authority, which has historically been responsible for managing river resources and facilitating regional water projects, pledged to develop a $6 billion to $7 billion seawater desalination plant and underground pipeline to carry the water to customers. Communities started paying fees up to $2.7 million to book future desalinated water. The agency collected $4.1 million in fees…