Yeah they are pumping the heck outta the fresh water aquifers in Texas.
The comments below that article tell the story.
Houston’s been subsiding for years because of it. And so they are getting a migration of the “bad water boundary line” where the salt water intrudes into admittedly imperfect but more potable fresh water pockets in the aquifer. Houston, if you have never visited, is worth going to see at least once. It’s a crazy place. No (or nearly no) zoning, Space City, amazing delicious food from every corner of our planet in all parts of Houston. People live there. It’s wild.
The icing on the cake is that Houston and Beaumont et al. are actively wrecking whatever surface water quality (and air quality) these cities have because: Texas oil industry.
Win-win-win.
Drill baby drill.