Local Texas leaders believe data center plans may be behind delays to emergency water supply
Local leaders in Corpus Christi, Texas, suspect that the small town of Sinton is delaying permits for Corpus Christi's emergency water supply project to secure water for proposed data centers. Sinton recently rezoned 1,000 acres of agricultural land to industrial, and a regional power provider acquired an adjacent parcel for a substation, fueling the suspicions. The legal dispute over water permits is ongoing, with a judge ruling that Sinton's challenge can proceed.
Officials in Corpus Christi, Texas, are suggesting that Sinton, a smaller town half an hour north, is intentionally delaying permits for Corpus Christi's urgent Evangeline groundwater project. Corpus Christi, which serves 500,000 people and faces severe drought conditions, believes Sinton's real motive is to secure water resources for a new, thirsty complex of data centers.
Evidence cited by Corpus Christi officials and executives includes recent land deals, well permits, and Sinton's rezoning of 1,000 acres of agricultural land to industrial use. While Sinton officials neither confirm nor deny these data center plans, a lawyer for the San Patricio Groundwater Conservation District, which issued drilling permits in dispute, found the rumors