Corpus Christi sold its water to Exxon, gambling on desalination. So far, it is losing the bet.

A bird on the shore of Nueces Bay across from Corpus Christi’s refinery row. Plans to open plants that will turn seawater into freshwater have sparked concerns that their discharge will cause the bay’s salinity to rise and devastate its ecosystem. (Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News)

CORPUS CHRISTI — Five years ago, when ExxonMobil came calling, city officials eagerly signed over a large portion of their water supply so the oil giant could build a $10 billion plant to make plastics out of methane gas.

A year later, they did the same for Steel Dynamics to build a rolled-steel factory.