ROBSTOWN, Texas — The Nueces County Water Control and Improvement District No. 3 received a letter Monday from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality showing that its drinking water exceeded federal arsenic limits. The notice, postmarked Thursday and listing a violation date of Jan. 23, reported that quarterly testing from October through December found arsenic at 13.1 parts per billion (ppb) — roughly 31 percent above the EPA’s maximum contaminant level of 10 ppb. The district serves about 13,000 people in Robstown and North San Pedro.
General Manager Marcos Alaniz said elevated arsenic levels do not necessarily indicate an immediate health risk. “There’s arsenic in a lot of things. It doesn’t mean if there’s arsenic in the water you’re going to get sick,” he said, noting that the federal standard is based on long-term exposure.
WCID officials are taking additional precautions, including ordering private lab tests to confirm the readings. “We’ve got to get to the source. We’ve never had this issue before,” Alaniz said.
The district draws water from the Nueces River and Lake Corpus Christi, the same sources used by the City of Corpus Christi. Earlier this month, WCID signed an agreement with Corpus Christi to purchase three million gallons of treated water per day and receive reimbursement for a new connection totaling $1.7 million. The agreement was signed the same day the TCEQ violation letter was issued, though officials said the two are unrelated.
Corpus Christi Water officials said their own tests near the city’s eastern well outflow show arsenic levels remain well below EPA limits, though the river itself shows signs of stress. “We’ve already identified a number of high total dissolved solids streams entering the river — some as high as 10,000 TDS,” said Nick Winkelman, interim COO of Corpus Christi Water.
WCID #3 officials say residents do not need to take any action at this time while the district conducts re-testing and that they will be informed of any updates.
