CORPUS CHRISTI — Not too long ago, Tamala Alejandro said her backyard was lush with a vegetable garden.
On the ground, she had watermelons, cantaloupes and potatoes. She loved her herb garden, and her prized possession was her beloved peach tree.
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But then, she learned about the looming water emergency in Corpus Christi: the city is edging towards a historic shortage.
A yearslong drought and a recent boom of refineries settling along Corpus Christi Bay has nearly drained the city’s water supply. Two of the city’s three main reservoirs have shrunk below 10% capacity. Now the city is depending on a patchwork of temporary sources for water, which may run dry by July.
Residents have been asked by the city to conserve water, with nonessential, outdoor watering prohibited. The city plans to limit how many days splash pads are open over summer break. A local high school canceled its annual car wash fundraiser.
The Texas Tribune spoke to nearly a dozen locals, and many said they have been, begrudgingly, limiting their shower times and laundry runs, and letting their lawns turn brown. Residents say the shortage is impacting their daily lives, even though they don’t feel like they are the problem.
Alejandro is asking the city to place stricter regulations on refineries that are consuming most of the city’s water.
“Put citizens and the people living here ahead of the corporations, ahead of the people that are actually over consuming the water,” the 15-year Corpus Christi resident said. “Why do we have to make these adjustments when it’s not us using most of the water?”
After a forceful windstorm recently uprooted many of her plants, Alejandro decided to not try to save her garden.
“We haven’t been able to water anything,” she said. She let her peach tree die.
The city is currently in a stage 3 drought, meaning regular lawn watering and automatic irrigation systems are not allowed. Residents have been asked to hand wash their cars and boats with 5-gallon buckets. They’re allowed to water vegetable beds and plants with a hand-held hose, but Alejandro said she’s not optimistic that the city’s crisis will get better anytime soon.
She hopes letting go of her vegetable garden will help mitigate a citywide emergency. It’s also helped regulate her water bill, another big reason she’s been conserving — she said her bill has gone up even though she’s been saving water.
She has three young kids who are nearing their summer break. They love to play outside, but this year is going to look different.
“We used to blow up pools and have a slip and slide and things like that,” Alejandro said. “But we can’t do that anymore.”
Monna Lytle lives around two miles west from the bay in Hillcrest, Corpus Christi’s historic Black neighborhood. Growing up there, she has grown accustomed to big refineries and oil companies being nearby. Her neighborhood was seen as a “sacrifice zone” years ago to make way for the new Harbor Bridge.
But Lytle, 70, said she never thought a city could run out of water, especially a city by the bay.
“When you look around and you drive on the waterfront, you see all this water and you say, ‘Oh, we have water,’” she said. “You never assume the idea that it could come to an end.”
She blames the shortage on the city opening its arms to refineries.
“The city needs to tell industry: we need to give our people water,” she said. “They’re getting water first, and we’re second.”
Lytle said she’s doing her part to conserve water: “I don’t wash dishes, I don’t wash a car, I have dead grass.”
“I’m compliant with what they want,” she said. “I say, if everybody stopped trying to play God with water, he would give them everything they need.”
City leaders are facing tough decisions as they try to supply water to 317,000 residents, along with a growing hub of fuel and chemical facilities.
The drought has also been tough on local businesses. Sarah Flores is the co-owner of Streat Corner Kitchen, a Tex-Mex restaurant just a block from the bay with big windows facing N. Water Street.
Flores said conserving water would be really difficult for her business, because “we use water for everything.”
“Things that you wouldn’t even think of,” she said. “Small things like sauces, we use filtered water for drinks. We use it for agua frescas, to clean our mats off at the end of the night. So we will have to learn how to adapt to that.”
Flores opened her brick-and-mortar restaurant last fall after operating out of a food truck for five years. She opened the restaurant with the vision of families and friends strolling in, looking for a good meal after a day exploring the bay. If she has to conservative more water, she would have to really rethink its operations.
“I’m worried more than anything that it’s just going to get worse before it gets better,” Flores said. “It doesn’t look like there is a solution from anyone at any point right now, so I’m just hopeful that they’ll figure something out.”
Despite their concerns about the city’s looming emergency, residents are holding onto hope and their faith.
“I guess when we’re told to be worried, I may start to worry, but now I have not been worried,” said Corey Haywood, a long-time Corpus Christi resident.
He’s been making small sacrifices with his family, including his 4-year-old and 2-year-old granddaughters who no longer take bubble baths.
The girls don’t quite understand why this is happening and miss playing with purple suds and rubber ducks. Haywood said limiting bathtime is the only conservation effort they’ve taken so far. He remains hopeful it will be resolved.
“I believe in God, so I think it’ll all be taken care of one way or another,” Haywood said.
