Corpus Christi has been on the lookout for a droughtproof water useful resource as a sustainable answer, and till just lately, they’ve been trying within the incorrect locations. It has been proper underneath their noses all alongside. Groundwater.
I commend the town for exploring different choices, to diversify water sources and but problem them to push even tougher in direction of adopting groundwater not desalination. Take into account the Gulf Coast Aquifer via the Evangeline Water Venture and different groundwater sources which are cheaper, sensible, and for my part as a geologist, the precise alternative. The town of Corpus Christi’s steadfast promotion of a baywater desalination plant is each economically and environmentally irresponsible.
Desalination initiatives in Florida and California have failed miserably to supply the projected portions of potable water and as a substitute the ratepayers are saddled with large value overruns of epic proportion. The Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination plant, touted by the town as a comparability to our bay, operates solely throughout excessive water demand annually and is now searching for groundwater to subsidize their facility’s freshwater output because it can’t meet its water calls for utilizing its baywater. Poor economics have scarred this facility with a number of bankruptcies because it was constructed.
Nearer to residence, we have to look no additional than the Brownsville’s 2.5 MGD (million gallons per day) desalination ship channel pilot program that value $67 million and failed to fulfill its expectation. Main issues: turbidity (muddy water), suspended solids and temperature variations brought on by passing ships. Sound acquainted? It isn’t arduous to foretell that these actual issues would happen the place the proposed desalination amenities can be positioned at Harbor Island, Internal Harbor and La Quinta ship channels.
Finally, residents can be confronted with prices overruns that could possibly be within the lots of of tens of millions of {dollars} for an unproven know-how in a Corpus Christi-type bay system. The answer for residential water is easy and but political powers promote “desal” to allow the unbridled industrial development and the accompanying pollution upon our fragile ecosystem.
Simply down the coast our neighbors within the Rio Grande Valley (inhabitants 1.3 million in 2020), rapidly discovered after the failed desalination try, that their droughtproof future is in brackish groundwater. In 2021, the Rio Grande Valley produces roughly 21 MGD from brackish water (<3,000 ppm) desalination. The Gulf Coast Aquifer system extends from Louisiana to the Mexico U.S. border and incorporates a whopping 4.89 billion acre-feet of freshwater. Our Coastal Bend area (inhabitants 550,000 in 2021) is blessed to have ample, freshwater groundwater (<1,000 ppm) to maintain our present and future residential provide for lots of of years. No desal wanted!
Why is desalination unhealthy? Reverse osmosis desalination is used to extract salt from seawater, (20,000-30,000ppm) producing freshwater and a concentrated saline discharge known as brine, which has 1.3-2 occasions (~70,000ppm) extra salt content material. The freshwater produced will probably be for brand spanking new, massive industries and the poisonous brine will probably be discharged into Corpus Christi Bay.
An article printed in 2016 by Dr. Paul Montagna of the Harte Analysis Institute, reported that freshwater substitute – the time freshwater enters Corpus Christi Bay from Nueces Bay and travels to the Gulf of Mexico – is about 50 months! Our bay’s restricted capability to have flushing and water alternate produces a web impact that salinities, already at a tipping level, would change our bay to a hypersaline surroundings inflicting the lack of biodiversity and degradation of the ecosystem.
Billions of sportfish larvae, zooplankton and different viable biomass can be killed immediately going via the huge consumption piping. This sludge can be disposed of in giant portions by every day truckloads to landfills. Pre-treatment anti-fouling chemical substances, air emissions, large power demand, are poorly understood elements that leads many to imagine that the whole desalination marketing campaign is a “gross sales job” to the general public. So as to add lots of of tens of millions of gallons of concentrated, poisonous brine to our bay every day is unconscionable.
The mistruths of baywater desalination as our savior for a droughtproof freshwater provide is solely incorrect. Ask your kids and grandchildren if they need high quality, droughtproof groundwater or desal that can solely destroy what we love – Corpus Christi Bay.
Patrick Nye is a geologist and board president of Ingleside on the Bay Coastal Watch Association.
