Corpus Christi water crisis threatens small cities and towns across Coastal BendCommunities that rely on Corpus Christi for water are issuing di...

Corpus Christi water crisis threatens small cities and towns across Coastal Bend
Communities that rely on Corpus Christi for water are issuing disaster declarations, hoping to draw attention to their plight. If Corpus runs out, they will, too.
By Dylan Baddour, Neena Satija, Emily Salazar
April 28, 2026
Elida Castillo is mayor of the Coastal Bend town of Taft, which issued a disaster declaration April 21 to call attention to a looming water crisis. "Everyone is like, 'What the heck is going on and what do we do?'" she says.
Elida Castillo is mayor of the Coastal Bend town of Taft, which issued a disaster declaration April 21 to call attention to a looming water crisis. "Everyone is like, 'What the heck is going on and what do we do?'" she says.

Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News

If Corpus Christi becomes the first modern American city to run out of water, it would take many surrounding communities with it.

That's why six cities and towns in the Coastal Bend region of Texas have issued disaster declarations in the past two weeks.

National attention has been fastened on Corpus Christi, a city of 317,000, as it grapples with an acute and potentially disastrous water shortage. But Corpus doesn’t just provide water to its own industries and residents. It supplies a seven-county region, including 20 other municipalities.

“Everyone is like, ‘What the heck is going on and what do we do?''' said Elida Castillo, mayor of Taft (population 2,800), which issued a disaster declaration on April 21. “I’m just trying to figure out what we could do.”
SOURCE: https://www.expressnews.com/news/texas/article/corpus-christi-water-crisis-coastal-bend-panic-22228960.php?link_source=ta_bluesky_link&utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=topic/environment