Summary

• Corpus Christi remains the most acute flashpoint, with reservoirs near critical levels and repeated warnings that shortages could arrive on a near-term timeline.
• Texas water planning is being criticized for relying on historical drought benchmarks that no longer match hotter, drier conditions.
• The Rio Grande basin is under sustained stress from low snowpack, weak runoff, and falling reservoir storage across New Mexico and downstream users.
• New Mexico now faces enforceable reductions in groundwater pumping and new accounting requirements after the Texas v. New Mexico settlement.
• Industrial growth, including petrochemical activity and data centers, is increasing scrutiny of municipal and regional water demand.
• Adaptation options are narrowing around desalination, groundwater expansion, treated wastewater reuse, and managed reductions in demand.
• The topic is coherent and stable, with a dense signal built around water scarcity, infrastructure limits, and legal water allocation conflict.