Valero’s West Refinery is seen behind Our Lady of Corpus Christi chapel along Interstate 37 in September 2022. Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News
When you turn on your taps at home, it shouldn’t be unexpected for water to appear. But what if one day water didn’t gush forth for you, your neighbours or anyone else in the city?
That’s the potential situation facing residents of Corpus Christi in Texas, a city of around 317,000 people, two hours south of the state capital Austin and sitting beside Corpus Christi Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
So how does a moderately-sized city located next to two giant bodies of water, find itself staring down the barrel of a major water shortage and on the verge of declaring a ‘water emergency’? Barring a protracted and heavy, even “biblical” quantity of rainfall, forecasts say the taps of Corpus Christi could run dry in 2027.
City officials plan to declare a water emergency as soon as September, when water use must be cut by everyone, from citizens to businesses, by 25%. For residents, there are clear ways to do this. Limiting shower time, not watering gardens (banned in Corpus Christi since 2023), and not cleaning cars are all tangible and achievable measures.
But for the multibillion-dollar petrochemical plants nearby, it’s not so simple. Cutting back on water use by 25% could affect productivity, which could in turn lead to job losses. Yet, Inside Climate News points out that: “While city pools and splash pads consume almost 2m gallons of water over the course of a summer, a single Exxon plastics plant consumes 13m gallons per day.” Even incremental water saving measures by the industrial giants could make a big difference.
The area’s largest water consumers are 15 major industrial facilities which use more than half of Corpus Christi’s water. Exxon-SABIC is the biggest single consumer, although a spokesperson for the company said it “continuously recycles water, is looking for additional ways to reduce its water use and that the site is also exploring alternative water sources”.
One of Corpus Christi’s emergency water wells discharges into the Nueces River. Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News
Defining drought
According to the US government’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), there are five types of drought defined by scientists:
• Meteorological Drought
When dry weather patterns dominate an area.
• Hydrological Drought
When low water supply becomes evident in the water system.
• Agricultural Drought
When crops become affected by drought.
• Socioeconomic Drought
When the supply and demand of various commodities is affected by drought.
• Ecological Drought
When natural ecosystems are affected by drought.
Creating more water
One alternative water source could be a seawater desalination plant, which converts salt water to fresh water – either drinkable or non-drinkable. Multiple plans for desalination plants in the region have been mooted for around a decade, but spiralling costs and local environmental pushback (desalination plants discharge a large amount of highly salty wastewater) has meant no green light so far.
Now a $1.2bn privately funded desalination plant that could produce 150m gallons of drinking water a day has been proposed by a new Houston-based company called AXE-H20. In terms of the water crisis facing Corpus Christi, it’s something of an 11th-hour intervention but could work if the city agrees to buy water from the plant for the next 30 years.
Additionally, a major pipeline as part of the Evangeline Groundwater Project could be operational by November but it comes with worries about the effects of pumping too much groundwater, including ground subsidence and drying out aquifers. The nearby city of Sinton is opposing the project, amid worries that it could adversely affect their own water quality.
Damian Gavaghan FRICS is a technical due diligence leader based in California, who says that in areas affected by long-term drought conditions, such as the south-western US, groundwater assumes a much greater role in the water supply chain.
“American cities may be facing water shortages for a variety of reasons, including San Antonio in Texas, due to depletion of the Edwards Aquifer, and Phoenix, Arizona due to upstream over-use of Colorado River water,” says Gavaghan. “Tensions over water rights can exist regarding water supply, as in the 2024 case of Texas vs New Mexico and Colorado, where groundwater pumping affected surface flows of the Rio Grande River.”
“Those acquiring, planning, or managing commercial real estate in America must rigorously assess water rights, quality, supply reliability, and regulatory context” Damian Gavaghan FRICS, technical due diligence leader
Gulf Coast Growth Ventures, a plastics production facility, started operations in 2022. Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News
The water needs of people and industry
The region of Texas that includes Corpus Christi is experiencing drought conditions that have been ongoing for several years. Critics have suggested that actively recruiting more industrial plants (from around 2015 onwards) to add demand to an already struggling water supply was short-sighted, even if it has contributed to job creation and economic prosperity.
However, as the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration points out, “drought is difficult to define, to predict and monitor – particularly when marking the beginning and end of a period of drought. It's often described as a ‘creeping phenomenon’ because it slowly impacts many sectors of the economy and operates on many different timescales.”
Gavaghan points to the US’ National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) data, which says from 22 April to 28 April there were 45 US states experiencing ‘Moderate Drought’ or worse. “Areas affected included the Florida ‘panhandle’ and south-east Georgia, which are not areas many would associate with drought conditions,” says Gavaghan.
“When discussing droughts, care needs to be given not only to the severity of the conditions, but also the duration. The conditions may be a result of a shortage of seasonal precipitation in locations that depend on rain or snowfall to replenish inland surface water systems.”
The new petrochemical plants, steel mills and natural gas export facilities that set up shop in Corpus Christi were told that enough water would be available, but a lot has changed since 2015. Especially hydrological conditions in a period of accelerating climate change.
And it’s by no means a problem restricted to Corpus Christi – recent state analysis has found that: “Texas communities will need to spend $174 billion in the next 50 years to avert a severe water crisis,” according to the Texas Tribune.
The Nueces River flows through Calallen, Texas. Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News
The value of water
Petrochemical plants and heavy industry aren’t the only ones accused of consuming too much water. There are parallels to be found in the current push to build more data centres across North America. According to Heatmap News, 25 data centre projects were cancelled in the US last year following local opposition, four times as many as 2024. The suggestion is this reflects a growing public awareness of the resources needed to power such digital infrastructure and the vast amount of water they require for cooling.
Decisions about the viability of any new development must give due care and attention to the local water supply. “Those acquiring, planning, or managing commercial real estate in America must rigorously assess water rights, quality, supply reliability, and regulatory context,” says Gavaghan.
Effective water stewardship mitigates operational risks, helps future-proof the asset, and aligns with market expectations in an era of heightened climate and ESG scrutiny.”
Supplying water in Saudi Arabia
Anda Ngxukumeshe MRICS is a cost and planning engineer for water transmission, storage and distribution at ENOWA (a subsidiary of NEOM) in Saudi Arabia, responsible for planning, developing and operating sustainable energy and water systems.
Projects include major transmission lines, water storage tanks and distribution networks, as well as pumpstations, water treatment plants, and associated utility infrastructure. She says situations such as Corpus Christi highlight the importance of long-term water resilience planning.
Given the hot, dry climate in the Middle East, are water projects given more prominence than in other regions less at risk of drought?
Absolutely. Water infrastructure is critical because water scarcity impacts both daily life and economic activity. Unlike some other utilities, water is essential for communities, industry and ongoing operations.
Desalinated water is the main source of water in the Kingdom, and as populations grow and cities expand, securing reliable water supply becomes increasingly important. This is particularly relevant in countries with limited natural freshwater resources, such as Saudi Arabia where already limited (non-renewable and renewable) groundwater is the main natural water source, and evaporation rates are high due to the harsh weather conditions.
Is it difficult to plan exactly how much water a town or city will need more than a few years into the future?
Forecasting future water demand is complex because it depends on multiple variables including population growth, urban expansion, industrial development and consumer behaviour.
During the early planning stages of developments, assumptions must often be made regarding household demands, future occupancy and longer-term economic growth. This uncertainty is why the early involvement of urban planners and engineers is imperative for future planning. Considerations for the provision of ramping up of water supply to match the changing demand need to be made early on.
Also, with the extreme changes in climate we are currently experiencing, as well as erratic rainfall in some regions, the dependence on historical weather data becomes less reliable. In my opinion, water sources outside of rainfall should have sufficient capacity on their own, as far as is possible.
What can surveyors do in the early stages of new developments, both residential and commercial, to address future water scarcity?
Surveyors can play an important role in improving long-term water resilience through early-stage planning and infrastructure coordination. This includes ensuring sufficient provision for regional transmission infrastructure, which covers future requirements, and integration with alternative water sources where viable.
Experienced professionals can provide input and recommend interconnected regional networks so that areas experiencing shortages can be supplemented by neighbouring systems less affected by drought conditions.
Ultimately, resilience planning needs to be considered from the outset of development. From a cost and commercial perspective, surveyors can also help clients understand the long-term financial implications of resilience measures such as oversized infrastructure network interconnectivity, recycled water systems, and future-proofing strategies. These may increase upfront capital costs, but they can significantly reduce future operational risk and the cost of future major upgrades.
