Corpus Christi hides a cryptomine's water use

As Corpus Christi's water crisis worsens, the city is keeping secret how much water a Bitcoin mining operation northwest of the city is consuming, reversing course after releasing the same data last year. A Texas Observer investigation found the mine burned through more than 11.5 million gallons between May and August 2024. A city council member whose district includes the facility says it continues to draw around 3 million gallons a month. But city officials are blocking the Observer’s public records request for 2026 usage figures, claiming a state statute protects the data as private.

The transparency fight is compounded by questions about whether the mine, under the control of companies tied to global crypto firm Tether, has delivered on the financial promises used to sell the original deal to the city. Records show the mine's operators paid the city just a few thousand dollars in tax-equivalent fees over nearly two years under its Industrial District Agreement. The arrangement is now drawing scrutiny from council members like Sylvia Campos, who want it revisited.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, bowing to growing pressure from communities across the state under siege by proposed data centers, has recently proposed new statewide regulations on cryptomines and AI centers, including water reporting requirements. For Corpus Christi community advocates like Eli McKay, it's too little, too late. "It seems like there's just no accountability whatsoever, and it's so frustrating to see these things happen, and then [the city] inviting more entities in, be it data centers or chemical plants," said McKay, a Sierra Club Coastal Bend Group volunteer and Coastal Action Network coordinator. "I would think that they would be putting the citizens first, but it doesn't feel that way."

Read the full story by special investigative correspondent Candice Bernd.