TCEQ outlines desalination permitting timelines as environmental groups press for salinity standards

State regulators and industry witnesses told a Senate panel that desalination permitting can be streamlined but emphasized the need to protect coastal bays and estuaries.

Kelly Kiel, executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, described program roles and counts: "TCEQ has authorized 102 public water systems that use desalination processes" and the state’s authorized desalination capacity totals about 193 million gallons per day. Carrie LeCajal (TCEQ Office of Water) summarized review steps and standard timeframes: "The standard [wastewater] process...takes approximately 170 days," she said, and noted faster statutory paths are available for projects located seaward of three miles or within statutory zones.

Industry witnesses urged TCEQ to consider general permits for intakes and discharges and to allow modeling—rather than costly pilot studies—when technology is proven. "A number of years ago...we persuaded the agency on brackish to get off of requiring a piloting program and instead of doing modeling," an industry representative said, arguing the same approach could safely accelerate marine projects when validated data exist.

Conservation groups, local elected officials and residents urged caution. Corpus Christi-area speakers argued that bay systems are often closed or slow-circulation environments and that multiple nearshore discharges could have cumulative impacts. "We need salinity standards if we are going to do desalination right," said Craig Nasr of the Sierra Club, urging TCEQ to adopt bay-specific salinity criteria and to steer new projects offshore or into predesignated zones where mixing reduces environmental risk.

What happens next: TCEQ and stakeholders signaled a shared interest in exploring statutory clarifications, fee-based expedited reviews and clearer implementation procedures (mixing-zone expectations and development of salinity standards), with several committee members urging funding and incentives for longer offshore pipelines when required for environmental protection.