CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — As Corpus Christi’s water crisis looms and city leaders scramble for solutions, the City Council has voted 6-2 to move forward with talks for a new company to build a desalination plant.
Houston-based AXE H2O is a two-month old company that says it can build a plant that can produce 150 million gallons of drinking water per day using natural gas, according to a report from The Texas Tribune. The city would pay $6.50 for 1,000 gallons of water.
According to John Olson, the company’s chairman, the project would be a private venture and construction would take about two years. The company estimates it would cost about $1.3 billion to build.
Council members Roland Barrera and Cynthia Campos — who made up the two votes against the project — were skeptical, with Campos saying it sounded “too good to be true.”
Corpus Christi’s water troubles have forced residents to significantly cut back on water use. According to the Tribune, two of the city’s main reservoirs have plummeted below 8% capacity and leaders anticipate they could enter a Level 1 emergency by September.
The council’s next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 12, at 11:30 a.m.