Corpus Christi Facility Becomes State’s First Fully Permitted Seawater Desalination Plant

On March 26, The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issued the final permit necessary for construction activities for the Inner Harbor Water Treatment Campus. The USACE’s determination comes on the heels of a similar state-level permit, issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on March 13. The City received TCEQ approval for its water rights permit 2020.

With these final two critical approvals in-hand, Corpus Christi’s Inner Harbor Water Treatment Campus becomes the first seawater desalination plant in Texas to be fully permitted and now has the green light to fully execute its piloting and design processes. The Inner Harbor Water Treatment Campus is set to become the first large-scale, municipally owned and operated desalination plant in the United States.

The rigorous review processes at both the state and federal levels included technical evaluation, environmental assessment, and opportunities for public input to ensure the Inner Harbor Water Treatment Campus meets all regulatory requirements.

“Environmental stewardship has guided our work on this project from day one,” says Corpus Christi Water COO Drew Molly. “From site selection, through the extensive modeling and analysis process required for these permits, and as we look forward to design and construction of the Inner Harbor Water Treatment Campus, we are focused on maintaining the health of the natural environment.”

Beginning with the selection of the Inner Harbor location, environmental considerations have been at the forefront of all planning and design considerations of the Inner Harbor Water Treatment Campus. The section of the Inner Harbor’s ship channel on which the plant will be located is uniquely suited to the needs of the facility – there are no reefs or seagrass which attract the most sensitive marine creatures, the water is of sufficient depth for a low-lying discharge diffuser, and the location ensures minimal impact on existing waterways and beaches where people live and play.

But what about the highly salted water that results from the desalination treatment process? That byproduct, or “brine”, is returned to the ship channel through underwater jet diffusers that will release the water at a controlled speed. By spreading the water quickly and evenly, the brine will be diluted and bring conditions back to normal within a short distance from the discharge. This process will ensure salinity levels are in line with the normal salinity levels seen year-round as the seasons change.

Corpus Christi has contracted with Kiewit, a leading U.S.-based construction and engineering firm, to design and construct the Inner Harbor Water Treatment Campus. Kiewit brings the experience of designing and building dozens of desalination and water treatment plants and has a team of scientific experts with vast experience in modeling environmental impacts of desalination plants at both the point of intake, discharge, and in the far field.

The next step for the Inner Harbor Water Treatment Campus is the design, construction, and operation of a demonstration plant in accordance with TCEQ permit requirements. This demonstration plant will consist of a small-scale, temporary version of the final plant facility, and will mimic scaled down aspects of its full operation in order to inform and ensure the final design will meet all regulatory requirements.