SpaceX's Starbase neighbors cut off from county water deliveries

The South Texas county that’s home to Elon Musk’s SpaceX has cut off water deliveries for dozens of residents in and around company town Starbase — the latest example of growing tensions between the new city and surrounding communities.

For years, Cameron County has trucked in fresh water for nearly 40 properties along Texas 4 between Brownsville and Boca Chica Beach. The desolate area doesn’t have running water.

But the county suddenly stopped the $15 monthly service — with no notice — earlier this month, said Keith Reynolds, a Starbase resident unaffiliated with SpaceX.

"Abruptly cutting off water service without notice poses safety and public health risks," Kent Myers, Starbase’s city administrator, wrote in a letter to County Commissioner Sofia Benavides, whose precinct includes that stretch of Texas 4.

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Starbase, he pointed out, "has neither the legal authority nor operational capacity to deliver water to these residents."

Neither the county nor Commissioner Benavides has responded to multiple requests for comment about the decision.

Reynolds said the county and Benavides "decided to leave everybody high and dry without water — didn’t say a word."

In addition to the non-SpaceX residents within Starbase’s footprint who were cut off, at least a half dozen others living near the city limits also were dropped from the county water service, according to Myers’ letter.

"We respectfully urge the county to resume and continue water delivery to these residents, who remain within Cameron County, and who have relied on county service for decades," he wrote.

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It asked the county "to update its records" and "take any necessary steps to restore water service to those properties."

Reynolds, who’s had his troubles with his SpaceX neighbors over the years — including power surges, traffic, drones and behavior he’s described as bullying, said the county’s recent move bothers him more than anything SpaceX has done.

"That’s just a willful denying of basic services to your residents," he said. "You can’t just stop being a provider of water for a whole community."

SpaceX, however, has stepped up for its neighbors since the city halted deliveries.

"They reached out and asked if I needed my tanks topped off," Reynolds said. "They can’t charge me for it, and I didn’t have to sign anything."

SpaceX has been working to extend water and sewer service to the area by building a water system and treatment plant.

But in exchange for access to the Starbase water system, non-SpaceX-affiliated residents would have to sign the "unconditional and perpetual agreement," which requires them to leave the area for "any and all launch, testing and other operational activities."

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It also says that "SpaceX has no obligation to provide resident with access to SpaceX’s water and wastewater treatment," does not guarantee the quality or volume of water and adds that residents "shall have no legal or monetary recourse against SpaceX."

The deal would give the company the "unrestricted right to terminate (the agreement) at its sole discretion."

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality gave SpaceX permission to begin construction of its water system early last year.

The water problems are the latest signs of tension between Starbase and its South Texas neighbors.

Texas legislators recently passed a bill giving Starbase city officials power to close Boca Chica Beach and Texas 4 for Starship rocket testing during weekdays. The responsibility previously fell to county leaders. Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. has said he was disappointed with the change, which he described as widely unpopular.

In June, a giant explosion of a Starship rocket at the company’s test facility a few miles from Starbase tied up Brownsville firefighters for hours and frightened area residents.

Helen Ramirez, Brownsville city manager, emailed Starbase officials about the blast and its effects on city emergency response services. She described the incident as "one of the most logistically demanding and tactically complex incidents in recent memory," according to an email obtained by a Rio Grande Valley media outlet.