Corpus Christi, Texas, home to major oil refineries, petrochemical plants, LNG export terminals, manufacturing facilities, and other national security industries, is facing a water crisis that has prompted local officials to look to the Gulf of Mexico for help.
Heavy industry, a growing population, and an extended drought have left the city facing water usage restrictions despite recent rains that observers say have bought the city an extra 90 days before imposing a Level 1 emergency (when water demand is projected to be six months from exceeding water supply).
Corpus Christi has historically relied on three reservoirs for its potable water, but two of them are at historic lows. Lake Corpus Christi is barely about 10 percent of its capacity as of last month, and Choke Canyon is down to seven percent; thankfully, recent rains increased capacity at Lake Texana from 55 percent to 76 percent. City officials have for years studied the cost-benefit of adding a desalination plant that could ease water shortage fears that across the nation are exacerbated by water usage by data centers.
Desalination, however, remains a controversial topic, with opponents claiming that discharges of salty brine (after its extraction from seawater) might negatively impact fishing and water recreation (and the marine environment itself). In a nation used to cheap water, the costs of producing desalinated water are also a factor.
City officials spent years and tens of millions of dollars on a desalination plant project that would have produced 30 million gallons per day (MGD) of drinking water by 2028, but scrapped the project last September after projected costs had ballooned from initial estimates of $160 million to $1.2 billion. Anti-desalination city council member Eric Cantu said the project had gotten “so political, so nasty,” but he admitted, “we need to find other projects to get the refineries water.”
Indeed, a Level 1 emergency would force 25 percent cuts in industrial water use and “force the shutdown of at least some of our operations,” according to Flint Hills Resources spokesperson Kara Rivas, whose company operates two oil refineries in the area. Rivas added that “Industry simply cannot compete long-term without reliable water resources.” It would also impact half a million residents across seven affected counties.
In March, the Corpus Christi City Council voted to consider an agreement to purchase water from a desalination plant owned by Corpus Christi Polymers, a plastics manufacturer, but that plant is still under construction and may not be able to produce municipal-grade water without chlorination.
The region’s best hope for turning seawater into drinking water for industrial and residential uses lies with the Nueces River Authority, which began discussions about building its own desalination plant near Harbor Island years ago. This remains the case even though the NRA was unable to secure a $140 million loan from the Texas Water Development Board to further their project.
Earlier this year, the NRA board approved a $500,000 payment for pipeline work and another $500,000 for more pipeline design services. Board president Eric Burnett boasted that the “train is rolling down the track and it will be done, mainly because of the need.” Corpus Christi reserved 50 MGD from the project, half of the initially planned output. They were ready to go.
When the TWDB instead funded 10 projects it deemed higher priority, many believed the NRA project was “dead in the water.”
Curiously, Google’s Copilot first stated that the NRA had “abandoned” its plans for the Harbor Island plant after missing out on the TWDB funding, then admitted the project was merely delayed. The NRA, KRIS-TV reported, was instead relying on private partnerships, reservation fees from cities and water districts, and potential federal grants for a project estimated to cost $6.4 billion (half for the plant and half for the pipeline array).
Those who thought the Harbor Island plant was dead may have been surprised when the NRA on May 21 authorized executive director John Byrum to negotiate a development agreement with Israel-based IDE Technologies as project director for what would become the largest desalination facility in the Western Hemisphere. This makes the Harbor Island project a direct partnership between the NRA and IDE.
IDE has over six decades of experience in delivering advanced desalination infrastructure worldwide and today delivers about 1.5 billion gpd of high-quality water via some of the world’s largest and most advanced seawater desalination facilities, said CEO Lihy Teuerstein. “This [Harbor Island] project represents an important opportunity to help diversity and strengthen sustainable water supplies for South Texas.”
IDE’s first task is to develop a “Class 4” estimate of total project costs – an early scoping study that defines major systems and processes to set parameters for actual project costs and timelines. Byrum says that once the development agreement is completed and the Class 4 is produced, the NRA will be able to develop take-or-pay agreements for the off-takers and use those documents to secure bonding needed for final design and construction.
An NRA press release says that IDE’s modular desalination design approach, which allows major plant components to be manufactured and assembled in phases, significantly reduces construction timelines and accelerates the first delivery date for new water supplies – an important factor given the urgency of shoring up Corpus Christi’s water supplies.
Federal funding is still a major consideration for aiding project financing, as it was for the Carlsbad Desalination Project in San Diego County, California, currently the nation’s largest.
In 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency approved a $170 million loan to Poseidon Resources for construction of the facility through its Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) low-cost, long-term loan program. The Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART Desalination Program is another avenue for federal support.
Local business and municipal leaders are hopeful that the new partnership will succeed. Port of Corpus Christi CEO Kent Britton calls the Harbor Island project “an important milestone in securing a long-term, sustainable water solution for the region.” And city manager Peter Zanoni agrees that it will “help further diversity water resource projects the current city council has approved over the last 16 months.”