Representatives of Gov. Greg Abbott — who has previously blasted the Corpus Christi City Council over the Inner Harbor desalination plant — assessed the most recent rejection of a contract for the project’s design as a lack of “courage to lead” or “the will to govern.”
The written statement, attributed to Robert Black, chief of staff, was issued the afternoon of Sept. 2 in response to the Caller-Times’ request for comment.
The council, Black wrote, “has once again failed to secure reliable water for their citizens” and raised the specter — as has been raised before — of the state becoming directly involved with Corpus Christi’s water affairs.
“The State has done its part. The Texas Water Development Board approved $757 million in SWIFT financing
for the Inner Harbor plant, and TCEQ fully permitted the facility,” Black wrote. “Going forward, Governor Abbott will utilize all necessary tools to ensure the Corpus Christi area has a safe, reliable long term water supply.”
Abbott’s office, generally speaking, has been watching the progress — or the lack of progress — of the Inner Harbor plant, planned to generate as much as 30 million gallons of treated water per day.
The evening before Black’s comments, the majority of the council had turned down a roughly $78 million contract with Corpus Christi Desal Partners that would have covered the costs of bringing the plant to 60% design.
Work on the Inner Harbor desalination project will ostensibly cease, staff said as discussion on the topic carried past 10 p.m. on Sept. 1.
Council members voting against the contract largely cited concerns of cost — full development of the plant estimated at $979 million — and potential environmental issues, in addition to its proposed location adjacent to a historically Black and Hispanic neighborhood.
Some supporters of the contract, meanwhile, praised the company’s response in attempting to address concerns.
The project helps to combat drought and is properly permitted and positioned to meet the city’s needs, proponents have said.
The vote was 5-3, with Mayor Paulette Guajardo not in attendance due to an unrelated 30-day suspension.
Voting in favor of approving the contract were City Councilmen Everett Roy, Mark Scott and Roland Barrera; voting against the contract were council members Sylvia Campos, Eric Cantu, Kaylynn Paxson, Gil Hernandez and Carolyn Vaughn.
Responding to a request for comment on the statement from the governor’s office, City Councilwoman Sylvia Campos wrote that “he does not live or know what ‘We the People’ want.”
“We do not consent to placing a desalination plant in a historic Black Neighborhood, even IDE [Israel Desalination Engineers] would not place a desalination plant in an enclosed bay and they are the leaders in desalination,” she wrote in her message to the Caller-Times.
Other council members on the prevailing side of the vote did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Scott, who voted in favor of the contract, wrote in a message to the Caller-Times that he thanked “the Governor for his attention and concern about the project.”
“We know that Inner Harbor Desal has tremendous support at the State and Federal level and I share in his frustration,” Scott wrote. “After rigorous environmental review of the project, a sound financial plan and support of two-thirds of the voters in Corpus Christi, the majority of the council chose to ignore that work.”
It is the second major contract award for the project’s design turned down by a majority of council members.
A near-mirror vote on a similar contract was taken about a year ago.
This is not the first time that Abbott’s office has chastised the council.
In March, Abbott had in an unrelated news conference asserted that the city hadn’t been a victim of water scarcity but instead “a victim because of a lack of ability to make a decision.”
“We can only give them a little time more before the state of Texas has to take over and micromanage that city and run that city to make sure that every resident who goes to the water tap and turns it on, they're going to be getting water out of their faucet — not because of what local leaders are doing, but because of what the state of Texas will do,” he said.
Kirsten Crow covers city government and water news. Have a story idea? Contact her at kirsten.crow@caller.com.
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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Abbott's office blasts Corpus Christi council on new Inner Harbor vote
