skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump pushes House GOP to pass his budget bill; Medicaid critical for maternal and infant health in rural CO; Fear of detention prevents some WA migrants from getting food; Report says many AL adults want college degrees but face barriers; MT Native leaders say civic engagement brings legislative wins.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Kristi Noem incorrectly defines habeas corpus during a Senate hearing. Senate passes a bipartisan bill to eliminate taxes on tips, and Native American civic engagement fosters legislative wins in the West.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

New Mexico's acequia irrigation system is a model of democratic governance, buying a house in rural America will get harder under the Trump administration's draft 2026 budget, and physicians and medical clinics serving rural America are becoming a rarity.

Groups Charge Desalination Plants Are Wrong for Corpus Christi

play audio
Play

Friday, November 4, 2022   

A Texas environmental group is sounding the alarm about seawater desalination plants proposed for Corpus Christi Bay, warning they could have disastrous impacts on fishing and tourism.

Supporters believe that desalinated seawater is key to a sustainable, drought-proof water supply for the region, but Robin Schneider, executive director of the Texas Campaign for the Environment argued that the briny waste that would be dumped into the shallow bay system would harm sensitive coastal ecosystems.

"There is a much more sustainable option," she said, "which is to use groundwater and water conservation, and potentially to prevent evaporation on the reservoirs by using floating solar panels."

The first desalination plant, scheduled to be built on Harbor Island, is one of four proposed for the Bay - two being pushed by the Port of Corpus Christi and two by the city. Schneider said a cost-benefit analysis commissioned by her group shows desalination is the most costly option for addressing the area's water needs.

Texas regulators have issued an environmental permit for the Harbor Island plant - which would be the first such plant in Texas - but Schneider said the federal government still has questions.

"Now, the EPA is telling the city and the port that they need to do an examination of alternatives that would be less damaging," she said.

The state's water plan shows that by the end of the decade, the growing population in the Corpus Christi region - along with a boom in manufacturing and petrochemical facilities that use water to cool their plants - will exceed the region's water supply about 10 billion gallons. Schneider said she believes residents should be alarmed.

"People will feel it in their water bill throughout the whole region if they go ahead with this 'desal' plant," she said, "and it will ruin the thing that makes this region special."

Recently, residents of the primarily Black and Hispanic community of Hillcrest filed a civil rights challenge to stop the plant construction. Since 2007, the neighborhood has filed three similar complaints to block a sewage treatment plant and bridge construction. The area has long been the site of manufacturing that produces toxic waste.

Disclosure: Texas Campaign for the Environment Fund contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Environment, Environmental Justice, Waste Reduction/Recycling. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
The 2025 Florida hurricane season, from June 1 to Nov. 30, is predicted to be above average with 17 named storms. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

As Florida emergency response officials conduct their annual statewide hurricane preparedness exercise this week, emergency managers are grappling …


Health and Wellness

play sound

Groups fighting for immigrants' rights and health care access asked lawmakers in Sacramento on Tuesday to reject proposed cuts to Medi-Cal for undocum…

Health and Wellness

play sound

A new report showed programs serving domestic violence survivors in Ohio are stretched thin, with hundreds of people who need help being turned away …


Nearly 20% of Washington's labor force is foreign-born. (DisobeyArt/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Immigrants' rights advocates are voicing concerns that migrant communities in Washington may be avoiding visiting food banks or getting food assistanc…

Social Issues

play sound

According to researchers from Michigan State University, Yale and Johns Hopkins, ransomware is now the leading culprit behind U.S. health data …

About 19% of electricity in the United States is produced by nuclear plants. (Maksym Yemelyanov/Adobe Stock)

play sound

As Oregon legislators consider the possibility of allowing a nuclear reactor in Umatilla County, opponents rallied at the State Capitol this week to …

Social Issues

play sound

By Frankie (Amy) Felegy for Arts Midwest.Broadcast version by Mike Moen for Minnesota News Connection reporting for the Arts Midwest-Public News Servi…

Social Issues

play sound

Education is a major challenge for kids in foster care in Pennsylvania, according to a new report. Nearly 20,000 children and teens are served by …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021