Land and water resources have been analyzed in the Corpus Christi area--Aransas, Nueces, Refugio, and San Patricio Counties along the central Texas coast. The city and port of Corpus Christi compose the largest metropolitan center in the area.

Lignite is a rediscovered energy in Texas because lignite-produced energy is 3 to 7 times cheaper than intrastate natural gas. Production has risen from 18,000 short tons in 1950 to 14 million tons in 1976 and will exceed 50 million tons by 1985.

Lignite occurs in three Eocene stratigraphic units--the Wilcox Group, Yegua Formation, and Jackson Group--and in three ancient depositional systems-fluvial, deltaic, and strandplain/lagoonal.