Corpus Christi is charging full steam ahead on a $275 million seawater desalination plant in the Inner Harbor, even as the red flags stack up higher than the water this plant might someday produce. Branded as a solution to water shortages, this project is shaping up to be an expensive, polluting misstep — one that benefits industry while burdening residents and ecosystems alike.
The idea for seawater desalination in Corpus Christi has been on the table for over a decade, but the Inner Harbor plant took center stage in recent years. Billed as a strategy to secure long-term water supplies, the project is being developed under a Progressive Design-Build (PDB) model. The City of Corpus Christi selected Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. to build the plant, with GHD providing technical support.
The target completion date is 2028, but construction hasn’t even begun. So far, what’s been built is a prototype — and that small piece has already tripled in cost, jumping from $6 million to over $18 million. Not a good sign.
Source: KRIS 6 News
The plant’s ballooning prototype cost raises real concerns about how much the full project will ultimately cost. The current estimate is $275 million, but if early numbers are any indication, that could grow fast — and taxpayers will foot the bill.
City leaders have yet to finalize the Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP), expected by the end of 2025. Until then, we’re writing blank checks for an industrial wish list.
Source: Corpus Christi City News
Let’s be clear — this water isn’t for homes, gardens, or schools. The primary customer is expected to be heavy industry, particularly the petrochemical sector lining the Gulf Coast.
So while refineries and plastics plants get a new water source, it’s local families who will be paying — through taxes, higher utility bills, or both. A 2020 city presentation showed that industrial demand, not population growth, is the main driver of the project.
Source: City of Corpus Christi – Desal Project Overview
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has already issued a permit for the plant to discharge up to 51.5 million gallons of highly salty brine per day into the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. That brine — a byproduct of seawater desalination — doesn’t just vanish. It sinks, lingers, and devastates marine life.
Marine scientists warn this could create dead zones, disrupt fish habitats, and further endanger already vulnerable aquatic species.
Source: Houston Chronicle
The plant is slated for the Hillcrest neighborhood, a historically Black and Latino community that has already borne the brunt of industrial development. In fact, residents have filed a civil rights complaint with the EPA — their third since 2007 — arguing that placing this plant in their neighborhood constitutes environmental racism.
When wealthier, whiter neighborhoods don’t host industrial mega-projects like this, but Hillcrest keeps getting them, it’s not coincidence. It’s policy — and it’s wrong.
Source: Texas Tribune
In May 2025, the City Council was given a project update showing some progress on the design phase, but also confirming the cost overrun on the prototype. The full Guaranteed Maximum Price for the plant is still pending. Meanwhile, environmental monitoring is beginning — but only because TCEQ required it as part of the discharge permit.
Source: City Council News Update
Water scarcity is real — but seawater desalination should be the last resort, not the first step. Better solutions already exist:
Let’s call this project what it is: a false solution. It’s expensive, risky, and tailored to serve fossil-fueled industry at the expense of communities and ecosystems. If we’re going to spend hundreds of millions of public dollars, let’s invest in great solutions — water security that works for everyone, not just the polluters.
The City has committed to biweekly updates, and the next project update is scheduled for May 13, 2025. Show up. Speak out. We deserve better.