(This story was updated to add new information.)
City of Corpus Christi officials fear a delay in development of a largescale groundwater well field that they have considered key to avoiding a water emergency in the fall.
It had been planned that the remaining permitting for operation of the proposed Evangeline groundwater project could be approved by the San Patricio County Groundwater District on Feb. 6.
However, it is now expected that a series of protests filed against the project — proposed to pump as much as 24 million gallons of groundwater per day — will slow the process, city officials said on Feb. 5.
“We’re going to get through it and we have confidence that ultimately the permits will be approved,” said City Manager Peter Zanoni. “But it’s at the risk of causing peril in the community, in the region.”
The Evangeline groundwater project is planned for location on property spanning about 23,000 acres near the city of Sinton.
Sinton city officials have long expressed trepidation of the city of Corpus Christi’s plans and have voiced concerns about how the Evangeline project could potentially impact the aquifer, the sole source of water for Sinton.
Although Evangeline project developers have a production permit for the well field, they do not have two other permits integral to the project reaching fruition — those for drilling and transport — which had initially been expected to be considered by the San Patricio County Groundwater Conservation District on Feb. 6.
Developers of the project are required to attain the necessary permits before the city considers a final contract for $169 million in groundwater rights.
The filing of protests will mean, at minimum, scheduling a preliminary hearing for a later date to determine whether protestants have standing, officials said.
That step, from beginning to end, will likely take between 30 and 60 days, although possibly longer, Zanoni said.
In addition to the city of Sinton, parties challenging the permits are St. Paul Water Supply Corp., a Sinton resident and a Corpus Christi resident, according to a city-issued news release.
Although officials have known that protests against the permits were possible, there have been monthslong outreach efforts — to include meetings with area leadership and community members — to resolve any potential issues, Zanoni said.
“We anticipated protests, but we thought we were working tirelessly and literally around the clock to take care of all those issues,” he said. “The unfortunate truth is Sinton stopped communicating with the city.”
Sinton City Manager John Hobson, who has been vocal in opposition to the project, has in the past named among his concerns potential degradation of Sinton’s water quality substantial enough that it could call for more extensive, and expensive, treatment.
He has also questioned the adequacy of study put into determining effects of the Evangeline operations.
The city of Sinton is contesting the transport and drilling permits of all of the 23 wells planned for the Evangeline project, he told the Caller-Times on Jan. 28.
Zanoni doesn’t believe Sinton will be successful in contesting the permits, but working through a legal process “takes time,” he said.
“Time is what we don’t have,” Zanoni said. “And so now the actions of Sinton are putting the region really in somewhat of a riskier situation than we’ve ever seen ourselves in, when it comes to water security.”
Hobson was not immediately available for an interview on Feb. 5, but sent a message to the Caller-Times in response to some of the statements of city officials.
“The protests are not putting the regional water supply at risk,” he wrote. “The city of (Corpus Christi’s) lack of action over the years has placed the region in peril.”
Potential mitigation
The city of Corpus Christi and the city of Sinton had at one point been in discussions for an agreement outlining mitigation measures, should the Evangeline project impact Sinton’s water supply.
Included among the proposed provisions had been a commitment by CCW to construct an interconnect that could convey to Sinton emergency water, should there be a mechanical failure in Sinton’s systems.
While the proposed agreement would help address initial concerns, it wouldn’t address them all, Hobson told the Caller-Times in December.
As of Feb. 5, the agreement that had been floated had not been approved by the Sinton City Council, according to city of Corpus Christi staff.
Other mitigation plans — these more general — are scheduled to be presented to the Corpus Christi City Council for consideration in its Feb. 10 meeting.
Among those would be assurance that the city would draw only enough groundwater per day to meet 15% of overall demand, but with a lengthy list of conditions, a city memo shows.
Conditions to limit pumping of groundwater to 15% of demand include requirements that the combined capacity of Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon Reservoir stand at more than 50%, there being no restrictions on availability of water drawn from the Colorado River — a source the city has become progressively more reliant on during the drought — and having full access to the water under contract that is sourced from Lake Texana, a city memo shows.
City officials have recently raised concerns on the potential for curtailment of the water piped in from Lake Texana, as the lake levels have dropped.
There is also a provision that the city be allowed to operate the well field as needed “to the extent required to meet maintenance requirements and maintain its operational capability,” the memo states.
The 15% limit proposed is self-imposed, Zanoni said.
City officials are pitching various forms of monitoring as an augment to the well field activities, including monitoring for potential subsidence, groundwater well production and water quality, according to city documents, in addition to a well assistance program to be offered as mitigation to other well owners.
Moving forward
Part of the reason city officials don’t believe Sinton would be successful in protesting the permits is the spacing of the wells, Zanoni said. Those proposed for the Evangeline project are positioned at least three times farther than required to avoid adversely impacting another well.
The city is hoping for mediation with those seeking to protest, with the aim that the protest will be withdrawn, he said.
Alternatively, the preliminary hearing will be scheduled.
That would involve the protestants and the applicant agreeing on a judge, who would determine whether opponents have standing, he said.
Without standing, a decision on the permit returns to the San Patricio County Groundwater Conservation District, said Nick Winkelmann, interim chief operating officer of Corpus Christi Water.
Although city officials don’t expect the permits to be approved Feb. 6, a public hearing on the permits is still scheduled, Zanoni said.
The city is aware of “what’s going to happen tomorrow, so there’s no surprise,” he said.
“Our whole approach has been to be very open and collaborative,” Zanoni said. “So that’s the unfortunate part of what’s happening.”
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: A major Corpus Christi water project may be delayed. Here’s why.
Reporting by Kirsten Crow, Corpus Christi Caller Times / Corpus Christi Caller Times
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