After killing desalination project, Corpus Christi explores buying water from privately owned plant

Six months after scrapping their own seawater desalination plant project, Corpus Christi City Council voted Tuesday to consider an agreement with a private company to purchase water from its desalination plant to help stave off an impending water emergency.

The council voted 7-1 to begin negotiations to acquire water from a desalination plant that’s under construction and owned by Corpus Christi Polymers, a plastic manufacturer. The plant will filter salt and other minerals out from seawater or salty groundwater to make it drinkable.

Desalination company Aquatech has an agreement with Corpus Christi Polymers to sell drinking water from the plant to Corpus Christi, according to a presentation from the city. Aquatech has agreed to complete building the plant, expand it and connect it to the city’s distribution system.

The city is in the grips of a historic drought and two of its main reservoirs have fallen to 8.4% capacity, sparking fears that the city within months may have to declare a water emergency — signaling that the city has just 180 days’ supply of water left. City manager Peter Zanoni has called desalination a drought-resistant, long-term solution to providing water to the 500,000 people across seven counties who depend on the water system.

Although the council backed the effort, most did so after expressing skepticism.

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“I’m really, really reluctant,” said council member Roland Barrera, who voted against the measure. “… Once they come up with a good deal, then I’ll support it.”

Corpus Christi council members spent years discussing building a city-owned desalination plant capable of producing 30 million gallons of drinking water per day by 2028.

But costs nearly doubled over the years, to more than $1.2 billion, and opponents voiced concerns about a desalination plant’s potential impact on the environment — arguing that its super salty discharge into Corpus Christi Bay could create “dead zones” in the sensitive, mostly enclosed coastal ecosystem.

After years of efforts and tens of millions of dollars invested, the council decided last September to scrap the project.

Then the council tried to make an offer to purchase the Corpus Christi Polymers desalination plant but that offer was rejected in October. Now, the council is looking at purchasing water from the plant, which has already secured state permits, according to the city.

“I don’t see any reason not to move forward with at least negotiating,” said council member Kaylyn Paxson. “And of course, I wish the best speed and luck to the project, because that’s what we’re looking for — that’s what everyone is looking to this for, finding water.”

The plant, which as of October was around 90% complete, according to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, would be operational a year after a contract is signed and generate around 9 million gallons of water a day.

Council member Everett Roy, who voted for the measure, said: “I just, once again, I think we should move cautiously … I don’t want to put us once again where we’re in a position of desperation.”

Zanoni said he’s looking forward to meeting with Aquatech to talk about next steps.

“We’re cautiously optimistic,” he said. “Aquatech thinks they can do it, then we’re willing to have them present that case to us and we’ll analyze it and bring something to the city council if we think they have a good case.”

This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.