TCEQ hears from opponents and supporters of Corpus Christi desalination plan

From Texas Public Radio:

People in Corpus Christi could be the first in Texas to drink treated seawater.

Water scarcity in the state is a growing crisis, and ocean desalination is being touted as a solution.

But community activists are pointing out there are serious downsides to ocean desalination.

Chanting “save our bay!” while carrying signs that read “No Desal,” “Protect the Bay,” and “No more Corporate Welfare,” at least 200 community members marched Thursday night into the Corpus Christi’s American Bank Center.

They wanted to send a loud and clear message to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that they oppose the city’s ocean desalination project.

The TCEQ hearing was held to gather community feedback for a discharge permit for the Inner Harbor desalination plant. It would generate as much as 30 million gallons of clean water a day.

But it would also dump 30 million gallons a day of extremely salty brine into the Inner Harbor Ship Channel in Corpus Christi Bay.

The dense hyper saline discharge could sink to the bottom of the closed bay and create an ecological dead zone.

Resident Leo Dalbeck wanted to know why the brine can’t be piped farther out into the open Gulf of Mexico.

“I would do cartwheels if ya’ll say you’re going to pipe it out into the Gulf,” he told the TCEQ panel on the dais.

Jason Cocklin, the project’s lead consultant, said that it’s a matter of cost. “The balance that we had to strike in selecting the location was making sure that it was environmentally sustainable, balancing that with reliable and cost effective,” he explained.

Ocean desalination is considered to be a very expensive water source due to the high energy demands and the filtering process.

The Inner Harbor desalination project is expected to cost just under $1 billion. Much of that will be passed along to residents in the form of higher water rates.

But the head of the Corpus Christi Water utility, Drew Molly, said desal is needed because of the drought and growing water demands.

“This is for the benefit of everybody in the city, not just for one particular customer,” Molly explained. The comment was met with a round of boos and jeers from many in the crowd.

David Martin Davies / Texas Public Radio

Activists point out that industries use more than half of the city’s water, and more water demanding industries are coming to the area.

Opponents claim the need for desalination is being driven by this industrial demand.

They say residential customers will pay higher water rates for the desalination project and in turn subsidize the corporations. This was another reason why tempers were running so hot.

Several people were told to leave the public hearing. In all, about 70 people spoke out against desalination.

But about 30 attendees, including Bob Landeg, took to the mic to express support. He said Corpus Christi needs these jobs, and the vocal opposition didn’t represent the city.

“The vast majority of people that I know support this — I want you to know this — we need this,” Landeg said.

Many commenters pointed out that the permit should be rejected because there has been no full environmental impact study. They also said there was inaccurate and missing information in the TCEQ application.

Others called attention to the location of the desalination plant, which is in the historic Black Hillcrest neighborhood. They said this is a civil rights violation and is the subject of a lawsuit.

City officials said that once final TCEQ approval is secured, construction could begin as early as 2026.

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