Corpus Christi Water Crisis Prompts Regional Response To (All Together Now!) Pump Even More Groundwater, But Faster

[hatrack]

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Last fall, after the city of Corpus Christi first began pumping millions of gallons per day from the Evangeline Aquifer, towns and landowners across this area saw water levels in their wells drop. (Ed. - local resident & rancher Bruce) Mumme lost access to water for three days while he waited for workers to come lower his pump, which he said cost thousands of dollars. After that experience, he paid $30,000 to add another well on his property, for backup. He’s not the only one.

The region’s largest industrial water users are also drilling wells, according to officials. In Nueces County, where Corpus Christi is located, newly planned pumping projects alone could add up to over 1,000 percent of what the state water plan considers a sustainable rate of withdrawal from aquifers.

In March, Corpus Christi began pumping millions more gallons per day from its wellfield on the western banks of the Nueces River, about 15 miles outside the city, after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott waived permitting processes for the project in a bid to avert a water shortage. Across the river, drill rigs are turning at the city’s eastern wellfield. “I’ve done a lot of big projects in my career,” said Rik Allbritton, an operations manager for Weisinger Inc. with 40 years drilling experience, as a rig roared behind him at the eastern wellfield last Tuesday. “This is on the bigger side.”

These two projects, each containing clusters of several large water wells, aim to pump tens of millions of gallons per day in coming months. More than 20 miles away, in San Patricio County, piping has arrived for a third wellfield. A fourth and fifth are also in the queue along the Nueces River. The region’s largest water user, a massive, new plastics plant operated by ExxonMobil and the Saudi state oil company, also drilled test wells recently but found water that was too salty to use, according to Corpus Christi city manager Peter Zanoni. (Ed. - Womp womp!) “They continue to look for alternative water sources,” Zanoni said in an interview. “Several of the big companies are doing that, and the choice is really just groundwater.”

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07042026/corpus-christi-water-crisis-south-texas-aquifers/

[mwmisses4289]

1. Great! Let's empty the aquifer, because we refused to build a desalination plant 20 years ago!