City and far-field committee members are blindsided after the lead bay modeler is no longer on the project.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The vote on the proposed Inner Harbor desalination plant is being delayed by 30 days after the City learned the lead modeler on the bay study is no longer with the consulting firm hired for the work.
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Corpus Christi City Council had been expected to vote on the project April 28.
City leaders say the study is critical because council members want to know how the proposed desalination plant could affect the bay system before making a decision.
City Manager Peter Zanoni said the City expected consulting firm Spheros to rely heavily on Jordan Furnans, a modeler familiar with the local bay system.
“The company that City Council approved the contract for, Spheros, had a lead modeler, Jordan Furnans, who is familiar with the bay system and has done several studies here before,” Zanoni said. “Unfortunately, we were informed yesterday that he’s no longer with the company.”
The change also led to the cancellation of this week’s far-field advisory committee meeting, catching some members off guard.
Jason Hale, who has advocated for the project, said the sudden departure created uncertainty.
“It’s definitely not ideal what happened,” Hale said. “Yesterday I felt my world was turned upside down because I’ve been advocating for this for two years. We had a set plan. We had a set person. A lot of trust in that person and now I have no idea what’s going to happen.”
Hale said much of the work completed so far has been built around Furnans’ original plan and modeling approach.
“He submitted like a plan, like a whole plan,” Hale said. “This whole thing was kind of his baby. He made the model for the port and we are building on that model. That was two years ago. He did a lot of the legwork and then he basically laid out his vision that we said this is what we want and this is what we voted for.”
Despite the setback, Zanoni said early indications suggested the proposed desalination plant may not have a major impact on bay salinity.
“He seemed preliminarily confident that the Inner Harbor desal facility would be an OK plant in the Inner Harbor ship channel given all the different things that take place in the ship channel,” Zanoni said.
The consulting firm has requested an additional 30 days to complete the study.
A draft is expected to go before the advisory group in late May, with the full report expected to reach City Council in early June.