CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A proposed brackish groundwater deal that once appeared affordable is now shaping up to be far more expensive and complex than first presented.
Last week, the Corpus Christi City Council approved a draft agreement with Evangeline Laguna Water LP to pump groundwater from San Patricio County and transport it through the Mary Rhodes Pipeline.
On Monday, District 5 Councilman Gil Hernandez estimated the project would cost under $200 million for 12 million gallons per day (mgd), with the option to double the amount to 24 mgd. Hernandez also said reverse osmosis treatment would not be needed.
But on Tuesday, the mayor and city staff presented a significantly higher figure. A city report now estimates the full 24 million gallons per day — the level under discussion, according to Mayor Paulette Guajardo — would cost approximately $840 million, including infrastructure and $169 million in water rights.
Guajardo emphasized that Hernandez’s estimate included infrastructure alone and did not account for the cost of water rights.
“The 24 million gallons per day is what we’ve been talking about for months,” Guajardo said. “This would impact ratepayers by nine dollars and fifty cents.”
Cost isn’t the only concern. Corpus Christi Water Chief Operating Officer Drew Molly said the Evangeline water supply has a high salt content that affects taste and arsenic levels above federal limits, meaning reverse osmosis is needed.
“What we don’t want is a water quality that changes so much that people say, ‘I don’t like this,’” Molly said. “We’ll have to treat the water once we go above 12 mgd.”
Molly also said current cost estimates come from the provider’s engineer. The city has not yet completed its own analysis.
“We need to do our own due diligence to make sure these costs are accurate,” he said. “We’re doing the best we can with limited information.”
The update comes just days before the City Council is scheduled to vote on the Inner Harbor desalination project — putting two major water-related proposals and their costs under the microscope.
On Tuesday, the council is set to vote on future funding for the plant that’s already at $1.2 billion, with only 10 percent design completion.
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