CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Frustration hung heavy in the council chambers Tuesday night as city leaders once again took up the long-debated Inner Harbor desalination project.
“It’s a shame we are back here again… and I’ll say it again… a shame,” District 2 Councilwoman, Sylvia Campos said, capturing the sentiment shared by many in the room.
Just weeks after terminating a contract with the project’s original development team, the City Council voted to approve a new memorandum of understanding with Corpus Christi Desal Partners. The agreement does not authorize construction but allows the city to obtain a new cost estimate—essentially resetting the process.
“This would be first base, then we have second base, third base… then we slide on into home,” Mayor Paulette Guajardo said.
The council also voted to begin immediate environmental studies to determine potential effects on the bay.
“People need to know if it is safe, and they need to know now." said District 3 Councilman Eric Cantu.
Cost concerns—long at the core of the desal debate—resurfaced quickly. At-large Councilwoman Carolyn Vaughn said she supported seeking a new price because the step “is costing the city nothing” and does not raise residents’ bills.
“We all have to be open minded… who doesn’t want to hear that?” Vaughn said, adding that her opposition to the earlier plan remained unchanged. “I am not a flip flopper… I have been consistent from the get go. One-point-two billion was too much to put on our ratepayers.”
For District 3 Councilman Eric Cantu, those financial pressures are already evident among his constituents. “It’s either my water bill or my meds…it’s sad, but that’s how people are living today,” he said.
Public comment echoed those anxieties and produced some of the night’s sharpest remarks.
“You cannot serve God and mammon, and you cannot serve the people and special interest,” one speaker told the council.
Another added: “There’s a lot of elders out there choosing between their meds or electricity… now it’s their water?”
The council’s actions keep the desalination project alive but far from final approval, with cost and community impact likely to dominate the next phase of debate.
The next vote, expected in January or February 2026, will direct staff to develop a design-build contract. Council members would then consider approving that contract with CCDP in March or April.
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