Five straight years of record heat, sporadic rainfall and divided leadership has Corpus Christi in danger of becoming the first U.S. city to run short of water.
Only rain – lots of it – can keep the coastal city from that grim fate.
Accessible sources of short-term water, including newly drilled wells, have already been tapped. A controversial desalination plant with the ability to filter seawater – rejected last year over cost and environmental concerns – is back on the table but years away from producing. Building a new lake-size reservoir is another option, but that would take even longer…