- Jan 7, 2003
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'tremendously Grave': The First US City Is on Track to Run Out of Water
It seems inconceivable, even if you're aware of the perilous situation that the world's water supplies are in, but a developed coastal city in Texas that more than 300,000 people call home is now in serious danger of running out of water.
www.sciencealert.com
The city is Corpus Christi, and difficulties with water scarcity are now coming to a head after years of concerns over shortages.
There are multiple issues combining here, perhaps most importantly the arrival of major industrial developments, off the back of the unlocking of vast oil and gas reserves that came with the shale revolution.
One plastics chemical complex, built in 2022, uses as much water for cooling every day as all the Corpus Christi residents combined.
...And then there's climate change: Texas has been hit by a series of historical droughts in recent years. It all adds up to a scarcity of water that life and businesses rely on.
...Emergency measures might include rolling 'water blackouts', where water is only available for some parts of the day, for example. However, that's not really a solution for industrial uses – these refineries and plants would have to be shut down, bringing subsequent knock-on effects on the economy and communities.
"Corpus Christi has come as close to running out of water as practically any city in the United States," says Dylan Baddour, a journalist at Inside Climate News.
