Corpus Christi leaders question cost of reserving water from Harbor Island desal plant
If the Nueces River Authority succeeds in building a desalination facility on Harbor Island, 38% of the water has already been claimed.
Another 30% is currently under negotiation. If the city of Corpus Christi wants to join the list of municipalities reserving Harbor Island water, it will need to pay a nonrefundable reservation fee.
Nueces River Authority Executive Director John Byrum presented an update on the Harbor Island project during an Aug. 12 Corpus Christi City Council meeting. City leaders didn't appear enthusiastic about the fee and questioned whether costs were negotiable.
"I'll be honest, I don't believe the city of Corpus Christi should pay a reservation fee," Mayor Paulette Guajardo said, referencing the role the Port of Corpus Christi, which owns the Harbor Island property, has played in the project.
The reservation fee amounts to $24.44 per acre foot for municipal customers and $48.88 per acre foot for industrial customers. This is separate from the cost of the water.
Byrum said it would not be fair to other municipalities if Corpus Christi was not charged the same reservation fee.
Additionally, Byrum did not specify how much water from the facility will ultimately cost, though he estimated it would be within the range of $10 to $15 per thousand gallons.
"I'm fascinated (that) people are signing reservations without knowing the cost," council member Mark Scott said.
"It's wet and it's good quality water," Byrum replied.
The city has not entered into an agreement for the Harbor Island desalination plant, one of several alternative water supply options it is researching as the future of the city's Inner Harbor desalination plans remain uncertain.
The Nueces River Authority secured a lease and use agreement with the Port of Corpus Christi in July for 31 acres of land on Harbor Island.
The river authority is looking for a private partner with experience in the desalination field to construct and operate the facility.
According to the current permits and permit applications, the facility is planned to draw seawater and discharge brine offshore in the Gulf.
The reverse osmosis facility would begin with a capacity to generate 100 million gallons of treated water per day. However, the Nueces River Authority has expressed hopes of eventually expanding to up to 450 million gallons of water per day.
Byrum told the Corpus Christi City Council that he believes the facility could be operational and providing water to the Coastal Bend by 2029. The river authority will also construct a conveyance pipeline to provide water across South Texas.
"We know we're going to at least Bexar County with some of this water because we've got contracts with people in Bexar County to serve water there," Byrum said.
Before agreeing to the lease, the Port of Corpus Christi Commission negotiated an incentive for partnership between the river authority and the city of Corpus Christi. The port will waive part of the payment from Nueces River Authority for water provided to the city.
The discount, exclusive to the city of Corpus Christi, amounts to about 10 cents per thousand gallons of water.
Byrum said that none of the entities that have paid reservation fees so far are within Nueces County — the river authority has avoided Corpus Christi Water's customers. Corpus Christi Water provides water to entities across the Coastal Bend.