Corpus Christi rejects $78.6M design contract, halting Inner Harbor desalination project

Corpus Christi rejects $78.6M design contract, halting Inner Harbor desalination projectFollowing fierce opposition from local residents and environmental advocates, the council voted down the 60% design and demonstration plant contract, forcing the city to pivot to alternative water supply strategies.

The council denied a $78.6 million contract with Corpus Christi Desalination Partners for 60% design and a demonstration plant.

Phase one of the Inner Harbor project was estimated to cost $978 million to deliver 30 million gallons per day (MGD) of treated water.

Public opposition heavily centered on the plant's location in the historically industrialized Hillcrest neighborhood and concerns over brine discharge into the Inner Harbor ship channel.

The city will cease work on the project and notify the Texas Water Development Board, which had allocated SWIFT loan funding for the facility.

The council is continuing to evaluate other water strategies, including a separate 100 MGD offshore desalination project proposed by the Nueces River Authority at Harbor Island.

On September 1, 2026, the Corpus Christi City Council voted against advancing the controversial Inner Harbor Seawater Desalination Treatment Plant, denying a $78.6 million progressive design-build contract with Corpus Christi Desalination Partners. The consortium, comprising Acciona, MasTec, and Ardura, had been negotiating to deliver the facility. The rejected contract would have funded 60% design services, the construction of a demonstration plant, and the verification of a $978 million preliminary guaranteed maximum price for a 30 million gallon per day (MGD) facility. The project has faced years of fierce pushback from residents of the Hillcrest neighborhood—a historically marginalized community already bordered by heavy industry—and environmental groups concerned about the ecological impact of discharging concentrated brine into the closed bay system of the Inner Harbor ship channel. During the meeting, Dan Leyendecker of Ardura presented alternative options to assuage public concerns. These included a real-time bay monitoring program administered by the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, and a potential Phase 2 expansion that would pipe the brine discharge into the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf discharge option would have increased the plant's capacity to 80 MGD but pushed the total estimated capital cost to between $3.6 billion and $4.2 billion. Despite the proposed alternatives, the council majority remained unconvinced. Several council members and dozens of public commenters cited the high cost of the treated water—estimated at $8.26 per 1,000 gallons for Phase 1—and argued that the financial burden would unfairly fall on ratepayers to subsidize industrial growth. Following the failed vote, City Manager Peter Zanoni confirmed that city staff will cease work on the Inner Harbor project. The city must now notify the Texas Water Development Board, which had previously allocated low-interest SWIFT loan funding specifically for the Inner Harbor facility, and consult with rating agencies regarding the city's water portfolio debt. With the Inner Harbor project shelved, Corpus Christi will continue to evaluate alternative water supply strategies to meet regional industrial and municipal demand. Earlier in the meeting, the council received a briefing from the Nueces River Authority (NRA) and Israel Desalination Engineers (IDE) regarding a separate desalination project at Harbor Island. The NRA project proposes a 100 MGD facility—starting with an initial 55 MGD phase—that would utilize offshore intake and discharge in the Gulf of Mexico, deliberately avoiding the enclosed bay issues that plagued the Inner Harbor proposal.