YouBet said:

---

txags92 said:

---

City of Corpus Christi voted to work on possibly building a desal plant at a CPS plant that seems like it would be a better option to me, with discharge of the brine well offshore much more easily feasible.

City moves forward with desalination proposal for the Barney Davis Power Plant

---

I guess that's good news but all of this talk of "possibly" and "exploring" at a point when a decision for an actual solution should have already been made doesn't help much.

So they would pay for this on top of the inner harbor plan or in place of?

---

Yeah, they are for sure way behind where they should have been on this. I think they fell victim to the "surely it has to start raining again eventually, doesn't it?" mindset, which is not an effective planning model. I am not sure where this falls in their priorities or schedule. I think they are maybe worried that the far field modeling study for the discharges into the channel from the inner harbor plant may show unfavorable conditions farther out in the bay, so this may be a reasonable alternative where it will be easier to pipe brine to the gulf.

Cross posting this here because it might get deleted from the Iran thread but with the world's super tankers headed to Texas and Corpus, specifically, this is about the worst timing for that ever. The water situation has not gotten any better and is going to impact industry's ability to handle all of this I assume. Guessing we are headed to Level 1 emergency in May.

I honestly thought this map was made up

Hundreds of supertankers, the kind that carry two million barrels each, are currently racing toward the US Gulf Coast from every direction. Atlantic, Indian Ocean, around Africa, the scenic route, the "we were heading to Saudi Arabia but… pic.twitter.com/hcWgTi2eti

— Jesús Enrique Rosas - The Body Language Guy (@Knesix) April 11, 2026

What does the water situation have to do with supertankers loading up?

I honestly don't know.

fc2112 said:

---

What does the water situation have to do with supertankers loading up?

I honestly don't know.

---

All of the O&G industry in and around Port of Corpus requires water to operate. We are all about to take a 25% haircut next month (seemingly) which will impact their ability to operate and could curtail production. Now, where I'm overstepping my skis here is if oil can still be transported out at the same rate despite the surrounding industry taking a hit. Maybe they can maintain current output despite water issues for some time. I'm not sure.

Thanks. I am not familiar at all with what it takes to process O&G.

AI and Data Centers are going to be the scourge of our state, need a real plan to address this.

fc2112 said:

---

Thanks. I am not familiar at all with what it takes to process O&G.

---

I'm admittedly not either. I'm just reading up on what I can because I live here...for now....and it directly impacts me.

Your latest Corpus Clown World Update:

Apparently, Corpus has delayed the desal funding vote by a month because a Project Manager that was responsible for some assessment that the decision depended on...left the organization. So now they have to wait for someone else to step in and do it.

And one of the groundwater solutions is not going to have the output that was originally projected due to "limitations". Not sure what that means.

I think the tankers coming this way is not a huge issue immediately

all of those facilities run 24/7 and the tankers will be filling up with product that is already there

To replace the inventory that is leaving will consume large amounts of water

Any proposed expansions and the new refinery that has been permitted is going to be a problem

I would be shocked if any new expansions get approved at this point. The city literally can't support it. Companies would have to provide their own desal solutions going forward, I assume.

Man I was home this week for my mother's surgery and all I'll say is the whole city looks thirsty. Lot of dead grass everywhere.

I have read the first new refinery built in America has been permitted and I think it was in Corpus

Yes nothing new is getting built but I think there were plans that had been approved

Sq 17 said:

---

I have read the first new refinery built has been permitted and I think it was in Corpus

Yes nothing new is getting built but I think there were plans that had been approved

---

Yeah, I don't doubt it. I wonder how owners are thinking about this building a new refinery with these headwinds.

Hopefully problems like this is where a Small Modular Reactor running a desalination plant could get green lit because of the epic calamity that is about to happen

Sq 17 said:

---

Hopefully problems like this is where a Small Modular Reactor running a desalination plant could get green lit because of the epic calamity that is about to happen

---

Necessity breeds innovation! Let's hope!

Why don't we have more data centers near the ocean rather than in the middle of Texas ?

Brownsville.

Sq 17 said:

---

I have read the first new refinery built in America has been permitted and I think it was in Corpus

Yes nothing new is getting built but I think there were plans that had been approved

---

The new refinery will be at the Brownsville Port, not Corpus

And cuts through red tape

We are sending rockets up in the air and landing them on small platforms, microchips are getting faster and smaller...we are seeing technology advances all over the place. I find it hard to believe we can't achieve desalination in a faster, more economical way going forward.

Also, what are the current goals of desalination...are they trying to make it too "pure"....i.e. drinking water? Can they not make it to a level that can be used for certain industries?

Aggie95 said:

---

We are sending rockets up in the air and landing them on small platforms, microchips are getting faster and smaller...we are seeing technology advances all over the place. I find it hard to believe we can't achieve desalination in a faster, more economical way going forward.

Also, what are the current goals of desalination...are they trying to make it too "pure"....i.e. drinking water? Can they not make it to a level that can be used for certain industries?

---

Like data centers?

I was thinking the same thing. Can they just get it to a non-potable level and use it for industrial, landscaping, dual-plumbing purple systems in commercial and new residential? That seems like it would help. Though all of that requires a dual system (potable and non-potable) to be in place and accessible.

I know San Antonio has some dual-pluming in place but it's not a requirement for any new construction. That might need to change. I'm shocked SAWS hasn't update the changed the drought restrictions and moved everything up a level where Stage 1 is the standard and we would currently be in Stage 4 instead of Stage 3.

Elon needs to start a water company for next-gen desal and water recycling. Lib heads would explode like water balloons.

Israel seems to be ahead of the game. According to the google machine...they currently get 80% of their drinking water through desalination. The desalination plants account for 5% of Israel's total energy...mostly done with natural gas, which we have in spades.

Granted, Israel is a very small country, so our plants would require a lot more output, but it seems some of the technology is there. I would also be curious how the specific gravity compares near Israel to Corpus. Seeing as the Dead Sea is peak specific gravity/salinity, one would think it would be easier to achieve acceptable quality water in the US vs Israel.

GCRanger said:

---

I was thinking the same thing. Can they just get it to a non-potable level and use it for industrial, landscaping, dual-plumbing purple systems in commercial and new residential? That seems like it would help. Though all of that requires a dual system (potable and non-potable) to be in place and accessible.

I know San Antonio has some dual-pluming in place but it's not a requirement for any new construction. That might need to change. I'm shocked SAWS hasn't update the changed the drought restrictions and moved everything up a level where Stage 1 is the standard and we would currently be in Stage 4 instead of Stage 3.

Elon needs to start a water company for next-gen desal and water recycling. Lib heads would explode like water balloons.

---

You have to think he's at least thought about it. He's directly impacted by this at Space X.

YouBet said:

---

GCRanger said:

---

I was thinking the same thing. Can they just get it to a non-potable level and use it for industrial, landscaping, dual-plumbing purple systems in commercial and new residential? That seems like it would help. Though all of that requires a dual system (potable and non-potable) to be in place and accessible.

I know San Antonio has some dual-pluming in place but it's not a requirement for any new construction. That might need to change. I'm shocked SAWS hasn't update the changed the drought restrictions and moved everything up a level where Stage 1 is the standard and we would currently be in Stage 4 instead of Stage 3.

Elon needs to start a water company for next-gen desal and water recycling. Lib heads would explode like water balloons.

---

You have to think he's at least thought about it. He's directly impacted by this at Space X.

---

I don't think it's the tech, it's the permitting. Hundreds of thousands of people in government think it's their job to prevent construction of... Pretty much anything.

Elon has said that data center permitting is such a nightmare that longterm it's literally easier and cheaper to build them in space.

More detailed update:

Quote:

---

In upcoming weeks, the council is expected to settle on water emergency response policies, including water allocations, surcharges and curtailment, and take a vote on a new proposed contract that would advance the Inner Harbor project.

A vote on the city's water emergency rules is expected April 28, while a vote on the Inner Harbor desalination plant is currently scheduled for June 2.

A decision by an administrative judge is also expected to determine the future of outstanding permits for the Evangeline groundwater project, an initiative city officials have said will be the lynchpin in whether Corpus Christi eventually enters into a water emergency.

A water emergency would be called when the city is projected to be within six months of water supply falling short of meeting demand.

New forecasts of when that may occur are likely to be unveiled April 21.

---

Corpus is the perfect city to harvest fresh water from water vapor in the air, a lot of water:
https://news.mit.edu/2025/window-sized-device-taps-air-safe-drinking-water-0611#:~:text=To%20improve%20access%20to%20safe,harvester%20in%20Death%20Valley%2C%20CA.

" The new device is a black, window-sized vertical panel, made from a water-absorbent hydrogel material, enclosed in a glass chamber coated with a cooling layer. The hydrogel resembles black bubble wrap, with small dome-shaped structures that swell when the hydrogel soaks up water vapor. When the captured vapor evaporates, the domes shrink back down in an origami-like transformation. The evaporated vapor then condenses on the the glass, where it can flow down and out through a tube, as clean and drinkable water."
The higher the moisture levels, the more water harvested.

On the Chilean coast they use plastic fog/vapor nets which catch water content from the air and that water runs into catchments. CC leadership cannot be so oblivious to that.

Aggie95 said:

---

We are sending rockets up in the air and landing them on small platforms, microchips are getting faster and smaller...we are seeing technology advances all over the place. I find it hard to believe we can't achieve desalination in a faster, more economical way going forward.

Also, what are the current goals of desalination...are they trying to make it too "pure"....i.e. drinking water? Can they not make it to a level that can be used for certain industries?

---

Because gubmunt.

I'm convinced these leaders want an emergency so they can garner huge sums of money and green light fraud contracts/payouts without the bidding process.

BTKAG97 said:

---

Would love to see the line item cost breakdown for a $1B "water project".

---

With the way the state is regulating water projects, doesn't seem outlandish for a city that size. By the time they get all their approvals in a few years, it'll probably be higher.

Corpus has basically punted this issue down the road over the years only to be bailed out by rains that allowed them to further delay the issue… something tells me the recent rains may once again bail them out. They are not out of the woods yet but at least the rain picture is looking better. Something tells me they will get bailed out.

Of course none of this addresses the issue other than putting a band aid on the water problem . They need to suck it up, build a desal plant and discharge back into the ocean.. quit F ing around w this. I think one of the real problems is the amount of fresh water those refineries need… it's a real problem no one wants to tackle

fullback44 said:

---

Corpus has basically punted this issue down the road over the years only to be bailed out by rains that allowed them to further delay the issue… something tells me the recent rains may once again bail them out. They are not out of the woods yet but at least the rain picture is looking better. Something tells me they will get bailed out.

Of course none of this addresses the issue other than putting a band aid on the water problem . They need to suck it up, build a desal plant and discharge back into the ocean.. quit F ing around w this. I think one of the real problems is the amount of fresh water those refineries need… it's a real problem no one wants to tackle

---

Well, it's 500k people affected by it and Abbott has already said he's going to take things over if City Council doesn't figure it out. That, of course, is just hyperbole talk but considering the importance of Port of Corpus I would bet some kind of bail out, whatever that might look like, would happen. It's going to end up being a state PR issue and a national / geopolitical one before it's all over so government will absolutely get involved in some fashion. Inevitable, I think.

On industry using the water, it just seems like there has to be some responsibility on behalf of industry to desal their own water and separate it from residential. Fair or not.

fullback44 said:

---

Corpus has basically punted this issue down the road over the years only to be bailed out by rains that allowed them to further delay the issue… something tells me the recent rains may once again bail them out. They are not out of the woods yet but at least the rain picture is looking better.

---

The recent rains have been minimal and literally done nothing to improve the situation.

Water levels at Mathis and Choke are currently less than they were a month ago.

SanAntoneAg said:

---

fullback44 said:

---

Corpus has basically punted this issue down the road over the years only to be bailed out by rains that allowed them to further delay the issue… something tells me the recent rains may once again bail them out. They are not out of the woods yet but at least the rain picture is looking better.

---

The recent rains have been minimal and literally done nothing to improve the situation.

---

It also has to rain over the two lakes or it's pointless.

I wish the people running this state were more forward thinking. Anybody can see that parts of Texas are staring at major water problems in the future with the extended droughts and population growth. I've been paying attention to this thread because other parts of South & Southwest Texas will be having similar issues if we don't have some wet years in the near future. I just hope the leadership at that time isn't as bad as what it appears to be in Corpus.

Another problem that Texas seems to have is that it keeps allowing development in watersheds that feed the rivers and lakes.