Corpus Christi city council members voted to approve a seawater desalination plant that will be a critical source of water for the growing clean fuels industry in the region.
The city, which has been in a drought officially since June, 2022, has been developing the Inner Harbor Desalination Plant for roughly 10 years as a solution for persistent water shortages.
The proposed plant would remove 83 million gallons of seawater per day from Corpus Christi’s Inner Harbor, strip out the salt, and produce 30 million gallons of freshwater per day for use in the area. Additionally, the facility would discharge up to 68 million gallons of concentrated saltwater (brine) per day into Corpus Christi bay.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued the City of Corpus Christi a draft wastewater discharge permit for the plant earlier this year.
Many clean fuels developers, including Avina, Monarch and Pattern, have planned facilities in the Corpus Christi area.
The city council was voting on a number of items related to the project, including to make an abridged and full application to the Texas Water Development Board for up to $535.1m of funding to complete the project.
The majority of local residents who spoke out at the meeting expressed opposition to the project, citing its cost, the potential contamination of Corpus Christi bay, and its siting in the Hillcrest neighborhood, which is historically Black, among other reasons.
