CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Finding an alternative water source is something city leaders have been seeking for decades.
On August 25, Corpus Christi City Council members voted to accept a loan from the Texas Water Development Board to execute the next step in building a Seawater Desalination Plant.
Mayor Joe McComb announced via Facebook that this loan is not to build a plant and will result in no increase to your water bill.
Despite a heated debate during the City Council meeting, there were enough council members who voted (6-3) in favor of pursuing an $11.4 million loan from the Texas Water Development Board. The loan will go towards a plan to build an Inner Harbor desalination plant.
Finding an alternative water source is something city leaders have been seeking for decades. City staff recommended the council's approval of the loan.
Staff said the plant is the most cost effective and a responsible solution to having a future water supply in the face of droughts and continued development.
The loan will be like a home loan. The financial agreement is one of two parts of an expected total $222 million loan, but not everyone was ready to jump on board with the plan.
Council Member Gil Hernandez said there hasn't been enough information provided.
"Things have been delayed; I'm overall just disappointed in the process," Hernandez said.
"My problem with today's vote, is that I believe any decision we make, we are spending taxpayer's dollar," council member Paulette Guajardo said. "We have to know the cost in this case of the alternatives."
Hernandez, along with Guajardo and Rudy Garza all voted no. Still, the measure had enough votes to move on it.
"The criticism of not having information is that people don't want to hear it," Mayor McComb said. "They don't want to talk about water when there's not a problem. The best time to solve a water shortage problem is when you have plenty of water because the gun is not to your head."
There will still need to be a second reading and vote on the issue.
In June 2019, the Water Resource Department said they narrowed down the list of sites to one in the Inner Harbor and one in the La Quinta Channel area as a location for the plant.
The desalination plant would have a minimum capacity of 10 million gallons of drinkable water per day to a maximum of 36 million gallons per day.