CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The City of Corpus Christi is getting closer to picking a location for a desalination plant.
City officials toured the Inner Harbor location Friday, one of the sites they are currently getting TCEQ permits for.
It comes as the city has now agreed to work with the Port of Corpus Christi, combining resources to create a new sustainable water source for the Coastal Bend.
The city would purchase 12.5 acres of property from Flint Hills Resources for the Inner Harbor desalination plant. The city already owns a little more than an acre, which would bring the total land owned to 13.6 acres to build on at Nueces Bay Boulevard and West Broadway Street.
"There's several parcels that would be combined into one plant location. The actual plant would be here on, on the site. The city would own this property," said Corpus Christi City Manager Peter Zanoni.
Zanoni told 3NEWS that the city is taking every aspect of the plant into consideration.
"The price, the environmental impact, the sustainability, the expansion potential of it. All those will be weighed in soon in the coming months and ultimately we'll pick one site," he said.
Zanoni said the city is working with AEP Texas to do a study for a power plant that would be built with the desalination plant. He said the city also has two nearby water holding tanks that could be used at a low-cost.
Port of Corpus Christi Authority Chairman Charlie Zahn said the port and city will share costs to build a desalination plant at any of the proposed locations.
"We're willing to also put money in the game too and help them with the cost to, to build that facility in the future," he said.
Corpus Christi City Council recently approved a resolution requiring the city and port to work together on a viable solution for desalination. Other proposed locations for a plant include the La Quinta ship channel, Barney Davis and the Harbor Island location--another spot officials recently toured.
"That's something that we, working with the City of Corpus Christi, will make a determination on and that is which facility can meet the future needs in the most economical manner for the citizens and industry in the Coastal Bend," he said.
The Inner Harbor location is estimated to cost at least $185-220 million. Zanoni said it should take 6-12 months to decide on the best location and that both the city and port will continue efforts to get the permits necessary to build.
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