Council briefed on Inner Harbor Water Treatment Campus design, cost increases and alternate water projects

City staff and project partners briefed the council on the Inner Harbor Water Treatment Campus (the city’s seawater/brackish desalination project) and related alternatives, showing a 10% design cost model that raises the current capital estimate and projects a measurable impact on water rates.

Project status and cost model: Program staff said the project is in a progressive design‑build sequence. Friese Nichols completed a 10% “basis of design” and the design‑builder (Kiewit) provided a cost model based on that design; the 10% cost model increased the estimated full project capital from the earlier $757 million figure (staff’s planning estimate) to roughly $1.19 billion. Project managers emphasized the estimate is a class‑4 (10% design) figure and that further refinement is expected at 30% and 60% design, with a 60% guaranteed maximum price (GMP) planned before final construction authorization. Program Management Office Director Brett Van Hazel described this as an iterative process in which costs and scope are sharpened as design advances.

Rate and budget implications: Corpus Christi Water staff…