The Port of Corpus Christi CEO Kent Britton says the facility will no longer pursue the La Quinta Channel as a location for a potential desalination plant. La Quinta and Harbor Island were the two sites the Port was evaluating for possible development.
"What we found is that we could only support a 20 to 30 million gallons per day facility at that location without impacting the salinity of the bay," Britton found with the testing of a potential La Quinta site.
In contrast, the Port currently holds a permit for a facility on Harbor Island that could produce 50 million gallons per day, though that permit is currently being challenged in court.
During Tuesday's City Council meeting, Port Chairman David Engel announced that the Port will seek new permits for a facility capable of producing 100 million gallons per day.
Desalination plants have been a focal point for the Coastal Bend since the early 1980s. However, the City of Corpus Christi has actively worked on solidifying plans for a potential site within the past five years. In that time, however, residents have grown concerned about the environmental risks that could accompany these facilities.
Much of the discussion surrounding desalination plants in the Coastal Bend centers on where discharge from these plants should go. The inshore discharge point would flow into the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, but the Port suggests that offshore discharge points in the Gulf of Mexico would pose less environmental risk.
"When you go offshore, you have more water movement. You have obviously much more water. And so you have the ability to dissipate that brine in a more effective manner."
The Port of Corpus Christi also aims to have the intake for these plants conducted offshore.
Britton and the Port emphasize that their agency has no plans of "owning, constructing, or operating" any desalination facility. However, Britton agrees that, when it comes to desalination, it is not a matter of "if," but "when" for the Coastal Bend.
"I think seawater desalination is the next logical place," Britton said, referring to the current water shortages affecting several regions of Texas. "If you locate it in a responsible area where you're taking the intake and putting the discharge in a place that's not going to be environmentally impactful, it's almost an unlimited source of water."
With the City of Corpus Christi being a potential developer for this desalination plant, KRIS 6 reached out to Corpus Christi Water CEO Drew Molly, who issued the following statement:
"The Port has explained to City staff repeatedly that the water quality modeling it conducted for its proposed La Quinta project was not built to address the City’s Inner Harbor project. The City’s technical consultants reviewed the Port’s modeling efforts. They have confirmed that the Port’s characterization is correct—the model it designed is not a useful tool for Inner Harbor water quality assessments.
Water quality models are used to understand how certain components of the environment might respond to various hypothetical scenarios. There are multiple approaches to water quality modeling on any proposed discharge project. The City has conducted modeling that was specifically designed for the Inner Harbor project. That work reflects that the Inner Harbor desal project will provide Corpus Christi with an extremely reliable source of drinking water while protecting the health and safety of the public and the environment.
The City continues to collaborate with the Port to develop additional opportunities for future water supply options. The Harbor Island Site is an additional location after we complete the Inner Harbor Project that the City could utilize in partnership with the Port."
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