Orange Grove residents warn Corpus Christi groundwater plan could drain wells

Orange Grove officials say the town’s only groundwater source is sliding fast, and residents fear Corpus Christi’s expanding well field near Bluntzer could be part of the reason. City Administrator Todd Wright said the water level in the Evangeline/Goliad Sands Aquifer stood about 152 feet below the surface in September and had fallen to about 165 feet below the surface by March 30, with water quality also declining.

That pressure turned into formal action in March and April. Orange Grove voted March 18 to protest Corpus Christi’s groundwater pumping expansion near Bluntzer, then declared a local state of disaster on April 15. Jim Wells County followed with its own drought disaster declaration on April 24, underscoring that the concern is not limited to one city block or one utility bill. For Orange Grove, the stakes reach private wells, farms, local businesses and the municipal system that depends on the same aquifer.

The human cost is already visible. Bruce Mumme said he had spent thousands of dollars drilling a backup well, a sign that some rural households are preparing for a problem that could become permanent if groundwater levels keep falling. In a county where many families still rely on private wells, a drop in the aquifer is not an abstract planning issue. It can mean lower pressure, more expensive drilling, and the risk that a well that once worked suddenly does not.

Corpus Christi Water says its Western Well Field project near Bluntzer is moving ahead. In May, the utility said crews had installed 21,293 linear feet, or 4.03 miles, of water line, were testing equipment on three additional wells, and still expected full completion in May 2026. The Nueces Groundwater Conservation District said drilling and testing were progressing near Bluntzer as part of Corpus Christi’s groundwater supply project, showing the expansion Orange Grove fears is already under way.

The dispute now sits inside a larger South Texas water system built on long-range planning and hard data. The Texas Water Development Board uses groundwater information to support planning from the local level to the regional level, and its records show Corpus Christi has long been involved in aquifer and aquifer-storage studies in this part of the Coastal Lowlands and Gulf Coast aquifer system. That history matters because it means the fight over Bluntzer is not a one-off clash. It is another test of who bears the risk when a growing city pushes deeper into the same groundwater that smaller communities depend on to stay alive.