POCCA Desal Plant

The Port of Corpus Christi Authority (PCCA) plans to build a baywater desalination plant on La Quinta Channel in order to attract future industrial customers to the Coastal Bend region.  IOBCWA opposes the Port's desalination facility on account of the devastation it would wreak on local fish and bird populations as a result of intake and discharge operations within the Channel.  

9/9/24: Caller Times: Port of Corpus Christi plans to pause its La Quinta desalination project. Here's why. 

CURRENT STATUS for Contested Case Hearing for IOBCWA and member Chon Serna regarding the Port of Corpus Christi's Water Rights Permit related to a Desalination Plant on La Quinta Ship Channel : POCCA Water Rights Permit #13630, WQ0005254000
On June 26, 2024, the TCEQ Commissioners heard oral arguments from applicant TCEQ and protestant's (IOBCWA & Mr. Serna) attorneys today. TCEQ commissioners approved the permit. You can watch the waiting for TCEQ commission to schedule meeting. Once scheduled attorneys represent IOBCWA will present oral arguments to TCEQ commision.  TCEQ Decision 9:30 today re: POCCA Desal Water Rights
In February 2024, IOBCWA filed Exceptions to this ruling, POCC filed response to our Exceptions, and IOBCWA filed a response to the POCC's response. Administrative Law Judges (ALJ's) will review all of the exceptions and responses and send one last letter to the TCEQ Commission and then the TCEQ Commissioners will review for decision. 
On January 22, 2024 the ALJ's in our State Office of Administrative Hearing (SOAH) recommended issuance of the permit, with only a minor tweak to include an explicit requirement for the use of 1/4 x 1/4 wire mesh screens, as POCCA represented in the application. Our next option is the file "exceptions" to the proposal for decision in 20 days. 

---

More Information:

• To follow Contested Case Hearing, go to TCEQ Commissioners Integrated Database, and type "Port" for applicant and "13630" for TCEQ ID number.
• 7/20/21 TCEQ grants IOBCWA standing to have a Contested Case Hearing (Meeting Agenda)
  a) TCEQ Executive Director assessment of 1) Affected Persons and 2) Issues
  b) TCEQ Office of Public Interest Counsel (OPIC) assessment
  c) IOBCWA Response 
• Public Notice of Public Meeting on 7/13/21
• Public Notice for Permit - posted 2/5/21
• Draft Water Rights Permit - issued 5/11/20 (3 pages)
• Application - submitted 8/29/19 (57 pages)
• Administratively Complete Packet - approved 5/11/20 (142 pages)
• Submit Comments Online for Permit "WRPERM 13630"
• Review Submitted Comments for TCEQ ID# "WRPERM 13630" (include all Correspondence)
• Visit CAPE's Desalination page for more information about ALL the proposed "baywater" desalination plants.

---

Major Concerns about Intake

• Impingement (the trapping of organisms against intake screens by the velocity and force of water flowing through them)
• Entrainment (the passage of smaller organisms through the intake screen into the process equipment)
• Adverse environmental impacts as the result of associated construction activities, removal of habitat, and interference with aquatic travel patterns.
• Even if an animal is able to escape after contact with an intake structure, the 24-hour survival rate after such contacts is low.
• Species entrained into the desalination process encounter tremendous salinity gradients and pressures that cause significant damage or fatality to the animal.