Council approves MOU with desal partners, orders far‑field study after months of debate

Corpus Christi City Council on Nov. 20 authorized a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a joint venture led by Axiona and MasTec to produce preliminary, price‑guaranteed proposals for a possible desalination facility at the Inner Harbor. The council approved the MOU 6–3 after adding an amendment that directs staff to start procurement immediately for an independent far‑field hydrodynamic modeling study of Corpus Christi Bay, Nueces Bay and the ship channel.

City Manager Peter Zanoni said the six‑month MOU would let the private team develop multiple options at no cost to ratepayers, using data the city obtained during the KeyWitt engagement. “They will evaluate the data and develop multiple options for the city to consider,” Zanoni said; staff will bring the proposals back to council in February and, if an option is chosen, a final contract would return later for approval.

Brett VanHazel, director of water supply management, and representatives of Axiona and MasTec described their experience with desalination worldwide and said the engagement would identify means to lower costs and propose production‑capacity options. The team told council it would propose production scenarios (for example, 20–30 MGD) and attendant price points and that it would evaluate operational levers that can reduce capital and operating costs.

Several council members emphasized limits: the MOU is a planning step, not a contract to build. “This is an MOU. That is all it is,” Mayor Paulette Guajardo said during final remarks. The MOU states the firm will prepare proposals at no cost to the ratepayer during the six‑month period; if council later approves moving forward, the city and private parties will negotiate how costs will be assigned.

The council‑approved amendment also requires staff to begin a formal procurement process to select an independent firm to perform a peer‑reviewed far‑field model and to form a community review panel for that work. Councilmembers and multiple members of the public said they wanted the modeling in place so findings could inform any later design or contract decisions.

The meeting included more than three hours of public comment on the desal project. Industry representatives and refinery officials urged council to pursue a permanent, drought‑proof source to protect jobs and the regional economy. Residents, neighborhood groups and environmental organizations countered that the Inner Harbor site is too enclosed, said brine discharge risks harming fisheries and tourism, and objected to siting the plant adjacent to Hillcrest — a historically Black neighborhood that commenters said already bears outsized industrial burdens.

Following the MOU vote, council approved on first reading a separate reclaimed‑water master‑services agreement intended to increase industrial reuse capacity. Council also reiterated ongoing short‑ and medium‑term work on groundwater, pipeline and wastewater reuse projects that staff said are intended to reduce curtailment risk while the desal process, if pursued, proceeds through further approvals.

Next steps: CCDP will evaluate city data and return to council with priced options in the February timeframe; council directed staff to run a procurement for the independent far‑field model and to form a peer and community review process. The MOU itself does not obligate funds or create construction contracts; those would require later council votes.