Gov. Greg Abbott criticized Corpus Christi leadership Tuesday over its looming water crisis and warned that if local leaders do not take immediate action, the state may need to intervene to ensure residents and businesses have enough.
“Corpus Christi is a victim not because of lack of water. They’re a victim because of a lack of ability to make a decision,” Abbott said at a press conference after a reporter asked him to comment on an Inside Climate News story quoting former regional and city officials who said the potential shortage is a result of years of delayed and poor decisions by city leaders.
“We can only give them a little time more before the state of Texas has to take over and micromanage that city and run that city to make sure that every resident who goes to the water tap and turns it on, they’re going to be getting water out of their faucet, not because of what local leaders are doing, but because of what the state of Texas will do,” Abbott said.
The city’s water supply could drop below expected demand as soon as June 2027, according to one model, said Elisa Olsen, the city’s communications director. The city currently has $1 billion worth of projects in the works to increase its supply — but many of them won’t come online until later this year or next year.
“We are not out of water, but our water supply is declining,” she said.
[…]
The city’s water troubles are partly due to low reservoir levels, drought and rapidly increasing demand driven by industry. Over the last decade the region has seen a huge industrial boom, especially in petrochemical and energy projects near the bay. Those industries require massive amounts of water, putting pressure on the city’s water supply.
However, this is only part of the problem. Former city employees and residents in the area say the crisis has been fueled by a long list of political fights locally over the “right” solutions, poor long-term planning despite repeated warnings and several delayed or canceled water solutions, including the large seawater desalination project that was abandoned after years of planning and spending.
At the press conference, Abbott said the state has been actively involved, giving the city $750 million to address the growing water problem.
“You know what they did? They squandered it,” he said.
See here for the background. So, like, is there some kind of city takeover law on the books that would allow Abbott to appoint a puppet Mayor and City Council, or would he step in as Mayor himself? And if there is a puppet-Mayor law, I have two words for you, Greg: Mike Miles. I’m sure he could use a change of scenery and a new challenge. Think about it.
My guess is that Abbott is mostly saber-rattling because he spends too much time on Twitter and gets all full of himself. But I also expect that he would like to cover his ass, because however poorly Corpus Christi has handled this situation, if refineries that supply a huge amount of jet fuel get knocked offline as a result, a lot of the blowback will be on him. I’m pretty sure he would like to be seen as Doing Something about it in advance of that possibility, even if all he can do is talk shit about it. But hey, there are no bad ideas in a brainstorming session, so if Abbott has anything constructive to toss out there, go for it. That at least might have some value.
UPDATE: The Chron addresses my question.
A full state takeover would be unprecedented, and it is unclear exactly how it would work. But Abbott would appear to have the authority to at least temporarily take control under a disaster declaration, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political scientist at the University of Houston who has studied the governor’s office.
Abbott has used that power before, including issuing a years-long border disaster under which the state took over a public park in Eagle Pass without the approval of the city and strung miles of razor wire along the Rio Grande, even on some private ranches.
But Rottinghaus said he could not find an instance where a city was “lock, stock and barrel taken over by the state of Texas,” even as the GOP-led Legislature has increasingly set rules around what cities can and cannot do on issues like police funding and environmental regulations.
“This is beyond unusual,” he said. “It would be a dramatic escalation of the war between city and state governments.”
I dunno, man, I’d really like to have a state government that didn’t want to go to war against me. Is that so much to ask for?
Water rights, usage, and access is such massive can of worms that even Abbott might not want to be a frontline issue in 2026. (See data centers.) Fighting Houston is one thing, but this might be something else entirely.
Been following this issue quite closely for over a year – the folks in CCTX and CCTX’s elected officials have no one to blame but themselves.
Abbott is way late to this party…locals are going to die of thirst before any desal plant comes online or an existing (local industry) one is modified to provide to the populace. Only thing that may save them is a prolonged Laguna Madre hurricane hit.
Per Skynet~
Estimated Timelines:
Modular/Small Containerized Systems (Fastest): Small, containerized RO (Reverse Osmosis) units can be delivered and operational within 1–4 weeks to a few months once ordered, provided the site has existing electricity and water hookups.
Small-Scale Municipal Plant (1–2 Years): A small custom-built plant, such as those used for small coastal communities or resorts, typically takes 18–24 months from design to commissioning.
Large-Scale Plant (5–12+ Years): For context, large-scale city projects (e.g., serving 400,000+ people) often take over a decade due to environmental assessments, complex permitting, and massive construction efforts.
Bring on the GOP bucket brigade, with all elected Republican officials handling buckets of water (preferably fresh)!
Sadly, it’s not Corpus’ inability to make a decision, contra Strangeabbott, it’s its ability to make all the wrong decisions, from recruiting refineries through cutting them blank checks on water supply to pursuing desal. I covered this all last week. https://socraticgadfly.blogspot.com/2026/03/corpus-christi-burns-through-most-its.html
On that last point? It’s part of why Prop 4 was clearly antienvironmental and I told people to vote no. Sadly Greens, even, as well as Dems, voted to officially endorse it.