Twenty miles from Corpus Christi, Texas—an area so dry that the local water company distributes shower timers at high school football games—the world’s richest man is nearly finished building a lithium refinery that it can require up to 30 million liters of water per day.
In a rare public update on the $1 billion project, the company announced in December that it was beginning to test the ability to process lithium at the new plant. But the automaker still doesn’t have a contract for the water needed to operate the facility, posing an obstacle to the CEO’s goal of turning lithium into chemicals used to make batteries for electric vehicles.
The factory, where Tesla aspires to begin production this year, is part of a broader effort by Musk to alleviate bottlenecks and build a more robust domestic supply chain of this critical material. It has also raised alarm among some residents of the small Texas town, who are concerned about having enough water to live on, let alone to help power a large factory.
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In 2022, Tesla estimated it would need 1.5 million liters per day to operate the lithium plant, increasing to 3 million liters per day at maximum use. Two years later, a Tesla employee told a consulting firm, Raftelis, that the forecast had skyrocketed to as much as 30 million gallons per day, according to South Texas Water Authority records obtained by Bloomberg News through a public records request.
The South Texas Water Authority controls the water but does not sell it directly to Tesla, which is negotiating a water contract with Nueces Water Supply, a water utility. Nueces Water Supply did not respond to requests for comment. The South Texas Water Authority did not provide a comment for this story.
It’s difficult to determine what the Tesla factory’s impact would be on the area’s water supply. But the average American family uses about 11,000 gallons of water per day, or 400,000 gallons per year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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For Robstown, which has 3,804 households in 2023, this would equate to around 4 million liters per day. At the highest estimate of 30 million liters per day, Tesla would be using eight times Robstown’s average residential water usage. That’s enough water to fill eight 10-foot-deep swimming pools, which are about the size of a football field, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Drought levels
It’s always been dry in this hot corner of South Texas, best known for its beaches and energy exports — but today there’s even less water available than when Tesla began construction in May 2023. The area’s drought status was recently updated to stage 3 — urgent — which means turning off non-essential water use in facilities and parks and adding new restrictions on washing cars, watering gardens and operating decorative fountains.
“They’re telling us to take shorter showers and turn off the water while we brush our teeth,” said Marie Lucio, a resident of the nearby Lost Creek neighborhood. The area already faces frequent problems with water quality, including low pressure and a milky color, and she is worried that the region’s aging water pipes won’t be able to keep up with new demand, like that at the Tesla factory. “We are not equipped to supply water to these industries.”
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About a year after construction began, Tesla plant manager Jason Bevan told a county judge that the company had “difficulties moving forward with discussions” about water agreements, according to an email obtained by Bloomberg News. “I’m at a stage now where we need to escalate the urgency around finalizing this deal,” he wrote at the time. Tesla did not respond to a request for additional comment.
Even without a water deal, Tesla has moved forward. In true Musk fashion, the billionaire continued to build other infrastructure and held an event last month to present the plan to the community.
Musk is known for opposing regulations, often saying they delay projects. And now he has a new political ally in President-elect Donald Trump, who has joined the Tesla CEO in criticizing government regulation. Trump recently proclaimed that any person or company investing a billion dollars in a project in the US should receive expedited approvals and permits. Musk reposted the idea with an American flag emoji, a rocket emoji and three words: “This is amazing.”
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One way to speed up projects has been to build factories in buffer zones of Texas cities or in unincorporated areas that have fewer rules and government oversight compared to larger cities.
The Musk location in Robstown fits that bill. The plant is situated on former agricultural land in an unincorporated part of Nueces County in South Texas. The area is industrializing, with the Port of Corpus Christi and other companies buying space in the region and increasing demand for water.
Even at lower estimated demand, Tesla’s water needs are raising concerns among local residents. “It’s just frustrating that we’re still awarding water contracts when we’re in such a critical situation,” said Myra Alaniz, a Nueces County resident who lives just outside of Robstown.
Despite complaints, local officials offered little public resistance.
The facility is expected to generate about 250 permanent jobs, with average salaries around $80,000 in an area where the average income is less than half that. To encourage investment, county commissioners voted in 2022 to make the site a tax increment reinvestment zone, a designated area that sets aside a portion of property taxes for redevelopment. The same year, the Robstown Independent School District approved its own tax exemption extension.
In December, the South Texas Water Authority approved an infrastructure deal that will allow Nueces Water Supply to sell the pipe rights Tesla will need to get water, which was one of the obstacles to a water deal. At a meeting last month, Nueces Water Supply’s board authorized management to “take all necessary or expedient actions” to reach an agreement to provide Tesla with the water it needs.
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