“We’ll we’ve already heard it, one person got up talking about their wells going dry,” said Scott Barraza and Kelly Harlan.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Nueces County residents gathered on the sixth floor of Corpus Christi City Hall Monday night for a meeting regarding the City’s groundwater efforts and what those plans could mean for people living in outlying communities.
The Corpus Christi Aquifer Storage and Recovery Conservation District hosted the meeting, giving members of the public an opportunity to hear its plan. However, not everyone in attendance agreed with the proposal.
“We’ll we’ve already heard it, one person got up talking about their wells going dry,” said Scott Barraza and Kelly Harlan, two of several residents who spoke during the meeting. The conservation district discussed the city’s efforts related to groundwater wells in Nueces County.
“They didn’t answer any questions tonight, not one question. They wouldn’t — this is a one-way deal,” they said.
Esteban Ramos is the general manager of the city’s Aquifer Storage and Recovery Conservation District. He said the city has applied for the production and drilling of 20 wells within the district’s jurisdiction, a move he said could benefit thousands of water users.
“Prevent drought situations and serve nearly 500,000 thousand people within the Coastal Bend. And again, this type of source of water will eventually be used for the City of Corpus Christi’s Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project,” Ramos said.
Some attendees cited environmental concerns during the meeting. Ramos said the city has conducted studies to ensure state compliance.
“The hydrologist and the geologist have given good arguments as to why the City of Corpus Christi can maintain the needed well production, to develop programs to help monitor and assist wells out there,” he said.
Harlan and Barraza also raised concerns about the conservation district’s board composition, noting that some members also work for the City of Corpus Christi.
“TCEQ is going to look into the legalities of this board and this city, being both the regulator and the pumper,” they said.
Ramos said the next step is for the board to meet to either approve, amend or deny the application. That meeting is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 19.