Council hears detailed Inner Harbor desalination update; pilot, modeling and demo plan advance as communications campaign draws criticism

Corpus Christi city officials gave a wide‑ranging briefing on the Inner Harbor Water Treatment Campus — the city’s seawater desalination project — laying out near‑term pilots, environmental modeling and next steps while also fielding council criticism over an active communications campaign and its costs.

The project status and schedule

Brett Benhazel, director of the program management office overseeing the desalination program, told the council the project is proceeding in phases. Phase 1a — advanced design and demonstration planning — is near completion and scheduled for June 1. Phase 1b (further design and long‑lead procurement) has begun; construction of the full plant is planned to start in early 2026 with construction running through 2028 and a transition to city operation following a one‑year Kiewit operation and maintenance contract.

Benhazel said the project team will present a more detailed capital cost model for council review in July after the team completes its review of the basis‑of‑design report and an independent cost estimate.

Pilot demonstration and modeling

The project’s demonstration plant will be built on Port property and operate long enough to satisfy TCEQ’s demonstration plan requirement — a continuous 30‑day steady‑state run — before decommissioning and submission of a feasibility report to TCEQ. The demonstration plant will send its product streams to the Broadway Wastewater Treatment Plant, Benhazel said.

GHD, as a Kiewit subcontractor, will perform near‑ and far‑field hydrodynamic modeling of the Inner Harbor ship channel to support diffuser design and to meet conditions of the…