Coastal Bend cities seek independent solutions after declaring water emergencies

Several Coastal Bend communities have recently declared water emergency status as concerns continue to grow over the region’s long-term water supply.

The city of Rockport and Aransas County are the latest to issue declarations on Monday, while officials in Corpus Christi are considering pushing back a planned water curtailment date currently set for September after recent rainfall increased lake levels in Lake Texana.

Even with recent rains, nearby cities that rely on Corpus Christi Water are continuing to explore new solutions to secure future water supplies.

Communities across the Coastal Bend are now looking at long-term alternatives, including brackish water desalination and reverse osmosis systems, in an effort to prevent future shortages.

Rockport City Councilman Brad Brundrett said officials are actively working to identify reliable water sources.

“We are not sitting still, that we are moving forward and we are trying to do the best we can with the information we’ve got,” Brundrett said.

Brundrett said concerns about water stability remain high throughout the community.

“We engaged three separate engineering firms to conduct studies for us. They have confirmed that we do have water below us, and the best option right now for the city of Rockport is brackish water desalination through an RO process,” Brundrett said.

Reverse osmosis, commonly referred to as RO, is a water purification process that removes contaminants from water.

“Our next steps will probably be seeking one of those firms, one of those companies to actually provide us brackish water desal,” Brundrett said.

Rockport City Council members met Tuesday night at City Hall to discuss potential next steps for the project.

Brundrett also noted that Aransas County Commissioners Court declared a water emergency the same day as the city of Rockport.

Meanwhile, the nearby city of Ingleside became the first area community to declare a water emergency.

City Manager Brenton Lewis said Ingleside is researching access to the Jasper Aquifer as part of its long-term strategy.

“At this time we’re researching going into the Jasper Aquifer rather than the potable water aquifer that everyone else is looking at,” Lewis said.

That option would also involve brackish water and reverse osmosis technology.

“It cleans up that system completely. And it’s almost like buying bottled water then, because it’s that clear,” Lewis said.

Both Rockport and Ingleside have contracts with the San Patricio County Municipal Water District, which receives water from the city of Corpus Christi.

Despite the emergency declarations, both Brundrett and Brenton said both cities have contracts with the water district that will remain in place.

“I don’t think we really totally cut ourselves off from San Pat or City of Corpus, because we got a lot of infrastructure pumps and pipes and tanks that are attached to that,” Brundrett said.

Both Rockport and Ingleside city councils are expected to continue discussions on those possible water solutions on Tuesday night.

3NEWS will give updates as they become available.

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