Texas Public Radio contributed to this story.
Corpus Christi Mayor Paulette Guajardo called for an emergency city council meeting in a Facebook post Wednesday, to vote on the Inner Harbor Seawater Desalination Project.
In the post, Guajardo said the vote is needed for the City to utilize $750 million in funding allocated by the State of Texas to help build in the project.
A date for the emergency meeting will be decided by Friday, according to the mayor.
The announcement comes after Governor Greg Abbott criticized Corpus Christi leaders in a press conference Tuesday, over their management of the region’s growing water concerns, adding that the state may need to intervene to ensure residents and businesses have enough water.
Abbott said that the State provided Corpus Christi with the funds to address its water problem, but criticized that the coastal city's leaders “squandered it.”
"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," he said. "What Corpus Christi leaders have to do is make a decision. We can only give them a little more time 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."
Much of Corpus Christi’s municipal water supply is used by industrial facilities like refineries.
Earlier this week, Inside Climate News reported that the city could run out of water by next year if there is not significant rainfall or additional water sources.
The crisis could halt industrial production, including jet fuel supply, and necessitate emergency measures like desalination plants and pipelines.
Inside Climate News reporter Dylan Baddour told Texas Standard that Corpus Christi leaders have been slow to address the issue, leading to a lack of public awareness and preparedness.
"People in Corpus do not have a good idea of how imminent this disaster is," he said. "That's largely because of the city leadership . . . particularly the city manager, Peter Zanoni, who has just really neglected or declined to acknowledge in any way the severity of this situation, in many cases."
City officials have since issued statements regarding the Inside Climate New's story and Governor Abbott's comments.
Even if the council votes to approve the Inner Harbor Seawater Desalination Project during an emergency meeting, the desalination plant is not expected to be completed this year.
Environmental questions remain as well with the far-field model committee having their first meeting last week.
The city has multiple active projects underway that are expected to offer 76 million gallons of water per day in the next two years.
The Texas Water Development Board's Water Data for Texas dashboard currently shows two of the area’s water reservoirs in single digits. Lake Corpus Christi is at 9.6 percent capacity; Choke Canyon Reservoir is at 8.2 percent capacity. The third, Lake Texana, about eight miles east of Edna, is at 55.4 percent capacity.
