Texas Governor Greg Abbott has threatened to take over Corpus Christi’s water response as the coastal region faces long-term supply risks, even as a state-appointed river authority tied to the same crisis is struggling to keep its desalination projects on track.
For families across a metro area of more than 500,000 people, the political fight centers on whether water will continue flowing from the tap if drought conditions return.
What happened?
In March, Abbott criticized Corpus Christi leaders after delays involving a desalination plant that, according to ProPublica, was expected to increase regional water supplies by 30 million gallons a day. As ProPublica reported in a co-published investigation with KRIS 6 News and The Texas Tribune, the state had already provided more than $750 million in low-interest loans for the city’s project.
Abbott accused city officials of wasting time and warned that “the state of Texas has to take over and micromanage that city” if local officials didn’t move forward. But while he focused that criticism on Corpus Christi, the Nueces River Authority (NRA), a separate agency led by a 21-member board Abbott chose in full, was dealing with its own issues…