SAN PATRICIO COUNTY, Tx — Corpus Christi leaders were the only ones at the table for a meeting with Sen. Adam Hinojosa, District 27, after Sinton city leaders declined the invitation to attend.
On Monday, the City of Sinton announced in a press release that it would not attend the meeting until "the City of Corpus Christi (“CCC”) provides essential information and responds to a previously submitted proposal intended to resolve ongoing groundwater permit matters."
KRIS 6 News previously reported that the City of Sinton and St. Paul Water Supply Corporation filed formal protests against Evangeline drilling and transport permit applications. These applications are tied to Corpus Christi’s groundwater supply plans.
Much of Tuesday's discussion centered on the ongoing disputes.
"While they are not present today, I want to make it very clear that the invitation remains open and that the door for conversation will always be open," Hinojosa said during opening remarks. "When disagreements arise between neighbors, the goal should always be to communicate and keep communication open."
The senator continued, "My hope is that we continue to create opportunities for both cities to sit down together and to talk through the issues directly."
Corpus Christi City Manager Peter Zanoni says Sinton's concerns have been addressed. He added that a report will be provided to Hinojosa and the Governor's office in the coming days. The report will show Corpus Christi's efforts in San Patricio County.
"That will clearly show that the City of Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi Water, in good faith and with a lot of effort, has been continuously reaching out to the city of Sinton, to see what we can do to mitigate and alleviate the concerns they have," Zanoni told KRIS 6 News.
WATCH MONDAY'S REPORTING HERE:
Zanoni also explained that there has been no communication with Sinton's leadership since their Monday announcement, but discussions will continue.
"Having that dialogue to get this project, to bring water to the region, is gonna take continued communication, continued effort, continued professionalism." He continued,
"We're still very much open-minded, and our calendars are open to meet with the city of Sinton and their attorneys on terms that would work for the region and for the ratepayers that exist today."
Sen. Hinojosa added, "Corpus Christi has addressed a lot of the issues as best they can now, of course, without Sinton being present today, we don't know if that's satisfactory for them."
Prior to the vote to protest permits to contested hearings, the Evangeline Groundwater project was one of Corpus Christi's key pieces in avoiding November curtailment. Despite the delays, Zanoni says it remains a critical part of securing water for the region.
"Evangeline is still very much a critical piece of getting through this drought," Zanoni said. "By the end of March, the project will be 60% designed. And in the next 4 to 6 weeks, construction crews are going to be pulling up on site to start laying pipe, to start building pumps, to start building groundwater storage tanks."
Zanoni continued, "Because these permits are only the drilling and the transfer permits, not the production permits, we feel confident that they will be approved by the district. And so that's not slowing us down, what's happening today with the city of Sinton and the contesting of those permits."
Corpus Christi leaders continue to emphasize a diverse water portfolio, and Sen. Hinojosa agrees.
"All water projects are viable," the senator explained. "With regard to marine desal, we all know that it is a sustainable drought-proof water solution that needs to be done."
"I think we all agree that marine desal is a way forward for future water supply, especially to take pressure off of our reservoir systems and off of, as Sinton is concerned, their water supply. The more we're able to do with marine desal, that takes pressure off of those solutions."
Last week, Lake Corpus Christi dropped below 10% capacity for the first time in its history. The last time levels came this close was in 2012, when the lake dropped to 12.9%. The current decline comes after five years of drought.
At the time, Zanoni said, "We're going to show them (City Council) three scenarios. We had been just showing them one, which is the most optimistic, but we'll show them a worst-case scenario if we can't bring on any more water from our Nueces wells into the river."
When asked on Tuesday, Zanoni said those scenarios will be announced and discussed at the next council meeting.
"We have always had an optimistic best-case scenario, but I asked for some additional scenarios, should things not go the way we anticipate them to."
Zanoni added, "So we have a worst case and two other cases in between, and then the best case scenario. We're hoping for those middle case scenarios where our western and eastern groundwater projects in Nueces County get their permits approved by TCEQ."
"They'll provide 27 million gallons of water that will reserve the western reservoirs, Lake Corpus Christi, and Choke Canyon."
City leaders have also said the following sources will provide additional water:
- 17 million gallons from the city's western well field, expected by the end of April
- 10 million gallons already coming from the eastern field
- 9 million gallons from wells on private land
- 24 million gallons potentially from the Evangeline Aquifer Project, though permits are currently tied up in protests
- 16 million gallons from effluent reuse projects
Zanoni said last week that a "worst-case scenario would be late spring or early summer" for entering a Level 1 water emergency.
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