CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas —
The Inner Harbor desalination project hit another roadblock Tuesday, failing to win approval from the Corpus Christi City Council for the second time in roughly a year.
The project continued to face opposition from the Hillcrest neighborhood, where it would be located, and concerns over a price tag that could reach $3.6 billion.
The project would draw water near the Inner Harbor of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel and place a water treatment plant adjacent to Hillcrest, a historically Black neighborhood on Corpus Christi's Northside.
Residents of that neighborhood have long voiced opposition to the project.
Tensions in council chambers rose when Dan Leyendecker, a Principal National Initiatives Director with Adurra/Corpus Christi Desal Partners, suggested renaming the facility after the neighborhood.
Leyendecker said he had met with members of the Hillcrest community about the Inner Harbor desal project. He acknowledged they were against it but said they wanted to be "remembered" and that changing the name of the project might accomplish that.
"One of the names we discussed was to name it the Hillcrest Water Treatment Complex. That's one there seemed to be some agreement on," Leyendecker said.
The suggestion drew gasps from those in attendance. Reverend Henry Williams, a Hillcrest representative who grew up in the neighborhood and had met with Leyendecker, came forward to clarify.
"I think that was mentioned perhaps off the cuff in some humor. No one would consider that," Williams said.
Dr. Deanna King, president of the NAACP Corpus Christi chapter, made the community's position clear.
"I asked everyone from Hillcrest and they said absolutely not," King said.
Leyendecker also presented a proposal to address environmental concerns about discharging brine from the desalination process into the ship channel. The alternative would route a discharge line into the Gulf of Mexico instead of nearby bays, reducing the project's environmental impact on local waterways.
However, that option was tied to a Phase 2 expansion that would produce an additional 50 million gallons of water per day — and push the project's cost from just under $1 billion to at least $3.6 billion. Under that scenario, the average Corpus Christi family's water bill would increase by $50 per month.
Corpus Christi City Council member Sylvia Campos noted the cost tradeoff was not a surprise.
"That's why the city never initially said they were gonna put it out into the gulf because it costs money. Lots of money," Campos said.
The motion to approve the project failed, mirroring the outcome of a vote last September.
City Manager Peter Zanoni said the outcome leaves the door open for future action.
"Tonight's vote wasn't a no on the project. There was a motion to approve it and that was denied," Zanoni said.
The failed vote could set the stage for local elections this November.
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