The Corpus Christi City Council voted 5-3 Tuesday night to reject, again, an almost billion-dollar water treatment plant after a decade of effort and its long-term water supply still in question.<\/p>\n
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The proposed desalination plant was intended to provide a drought-proof source of drinking water, but opponents questioned its high cost and the environmental impact of its salty discharge on Corpus Christi Bay.<\/p>\n
The vote was being watched by Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a>, who criticized the City Council<\/a> after it rejected the plant one year ago, saying the state might have to \u201cmicromanage\u201d the city to protect the region\u2019s water supply.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Before Tuesday\u2019s vote, Abbott chief of staff Robert Black called the proposed desalination plant \u201ca tremendous opportunity to finally get ahead of the curve and be proactive to solve their long-term water challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWill they do the right thing and move forward, or will they punt the future of Corpus Christi to someone else to fix?\u201d Black said in a written statement, adding that the state has \u201cdone its part\u201d by providing loans and other funding. \u201cAll that\u2019s left is courage and vision from the City Council.\u201d<\/p>\n A five-year drought had pushed Corpus Christi to the brink of a water emergency<\/a> last spring when projections showed the city was months away from demand outpacing its supply, a point that would require customers to cut water use by 25%.<\/p>\n Recent rain, including summer floods in the Hill Country, has boosted the city\u2019s reservoirs from a combined 15% capacity six months ago to 48% currently \u2014 allowing Corpus Christi to loosen restrictions<\/a> on watering lawns and washing vehicles.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Even so, projections show the city on course for a water emergency in fall 2028<\/a>.<\/p>\n The desalination plant could have begun operating in 2030.<\/p>\n The city water department had already secured contractors to begin building the plant. It\u2019s fully permitted, about 60% designed, and would be built along the bay in Hillcrest<\/a>, a historically Black neighborhood. It would have been capable of producing about 30 million gallons a day, roughly more than a third of the city\u2019s daily demand, and could be expanded to treat 80 million gallons a day.<\/p>\n The project\u2019s \u201cpreliminary guaranteed maximum price\u201d was $978.8 million, about 25% cheaper than previous estimates, but it wasn\u2019t enough to convert opponents.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The city in 2017 received a $2.75 million<\/a> loan from the state for the project\u2019s preliminary stages. The state provided $222 million<\/a> in loans three years later, then agreed to loan the city more than half a billion dollars<\/a> in addition, of which $10 million has been disbursed.<\/p>\n Council Member Gil Hernandez said he has consistently voted against the plant because of its cost, location and potential for environmental harm.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to say that I am for water, I\u2019m not against seawater desal,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cI just don\u2019t like this particular project, and I\u2019ve been consistent with this since 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n Council Member Carolyn Vaughn echoed the sentiment: \u201cI want desal, but I want it in the right place. I want it to be safe for our bay, for our environment, and I want the cost to be good, and I want it discharged in the ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Before Tuesday\u2019s vote, the council heard a presentation about a separate desalination proposal \u2014 the Harbor Island Desalination Project<\/a> \u2014 by John Byrum, executive director of the Nueces River Authority.<\/p>\n The project, which needs one more permit before construction can start, aims to serve multiple cities in the Coastal Bend with about 100 million gallons a day.<\/p>\n In October, Corpus Christi paid $2.7 million to reserve about 50 million gallons a day from the alternative plant after it comes online. At least one council member, Kaylynn Paxson, said she favors the Harbor Island project.<\/p>\n Dolly Trolley, executive director of Voices for Coastal Bend Energy and a supporter of the plant, told the City Council that dozens of wells drilled by the city, and the sudden surge of pumping in Nueces County, has rural residents concerned.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re losing faith in us in being good neighbors,\u201d Trolley said. \u201cThey see us relying a lot on our groundwater projects, and they don\u2019t see us \u2026 doing a lot of forward planning and relying on our own long-term sustainable projects.\u201d<\/p>\n Council Member Everett Roy understood that the plant would be expensive but said the city needs to take drastic measures.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a big risk, and I\u2019ve always stated that I back water,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not going to sit there and I\u2019m not going to turn water down. And so, for that, I support this project. And hopefully, we can get through this, whether it\u2019s with this council or the next.\u201d<\/p>\n All nine City Council seats, including the mayor, are up for election in November, and debate over the city-owned desalination plant has emerged as a leading campaign issue.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Two council members who voted to end the desalination project Tuesday are challenging Mayor Paulette Guajardo, a pro-desalination plant vote. In addition, two council members who voted on opposite sides of the issue are not seeking reelection.<\/p>\n Of the remaining three running for another term, two opposed the plant and one favored it. All council members voted the same way they did a year ago.<\/p>\n Guajardo was not at City Hall on Tuesday because the council suspended her for 30 days<\/a> over accusations she committed perjury regarding an ongoing trial to impeach her<\/a>. Allegations that led to the trial are related to a $2 million tax incentive agreement in 2024 with a hotelier.<\/p>\n Opponents of the project on Tuesday expressed concern about its impact on Corpus Christi Bay, with many doubting the reliability of an environmental study that concluded the plant\u2019s salty discharge would not affect marine life.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Other opponents said oil refineries, petrochemical plants and other large industrial users \u2014 not residents \u2014 should bear the burden of funding new water sources.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s incredibly backwards,\u201d Armon Alex, co-chair of the city\u2019s Democratic Socialist of America chapter, told the City Council. \u201cOur economy should provide for human needs. Human beings should not be organized around the needs of an economy built on endless industrial expansion.\u201d<\/p>\n Isabel Araiza, co-founder of For the Greater Good, which opposes the desalination plant, said Coastal Bend residents and local businesses don\u2019t want it.<\/p>\n \u201cHeavy industry and those who want industrial buildout want these projects. Local companies that stand to make a killing off of public tax dollars want these projects,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Corpus Christi is under pressure to find long-term solutions to its city\u2019s water woes. Perry Fowler, executive director of the Texas Water Infrastructure Network, a trade association for water construction businesses, sent a letter last week imploring the City Council to move the project forward.<\/p>\n \u201cPutting citizens first means making decisions today that reduce the likelihood that future residents will once again face emergency restrictions, economic uncertainty, and a scramble for new supply because long-term action was deferred when conditions temporarily improved,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWater infrastructure must be planned in decades, not according to the level of the reservoirs on any particular day.\u201d<\/p>\n Fowler said the city\u2019s decisions will have large ripple effects.<\/p>\n Corpus Christi is home to a busy port and one of the nation\u2019s largest industrial corridors, including crude oil refineries such as Valero Refining and Flint Hills Resources. Together, roughly 20 large industrial companies make up around 60% of the city\u2019s water demand, local officials say.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cReliable water infrastructure is strategic infrastructure,\u201d Fowler wrote.<\/p>\n