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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Corpus Christi Aquifer Storage and Recovery Conservation District - 07/17/2025 CORPUS CHRISTI WATER REGULAR MEETINGMINUTES OF THE Corpus Christi Aquifer Storage & Recovery Conservation District (CCASRCD) th Thursday, July 17, 2025 City Hall, 6Fl Conf Rm The Board of Directors of the Corpus Christi Aquifer Storage and Recovery Conservation District met in regular session at City of Corpus Christi City Hall,1201 Leopard St, Corpus Christi, Texas, with the following in attendance: Members:In Attendance: (non-members) Jeff Edmonds, SecretaryMaria Corona, Administrator, Water Resources Drew Molly, Vice President Belinda Balderas, Water Resources Nick Winkelmann, At-Large Lisa Aguilar, City Attorney’s Office Esteban (Steve) Ramos,Manager (1)Call Meeting to Order The meeting was called to order byManager, Steve Ramosat 3:37 pm.The roll was called. Aquorum was presentto conduct the meeting. (2) Public Comment: No Public Comment (3) Review and Approval of minutes of the February 19, 2024Regular Meeting ACTION:A motion was made by Jeff Edmonds to approve the minutes of the February 19, 2024,meeting. Nick Winkelmannseconded the motion.The Vote: Minutes Approved (4) Re-AppointNew Board Member: ToreplaceTyler Miller, who vacated the position. DISCUSSION:SteveRamos discussed the need to reappoint the position vacated by Tyler Miller,who left the City of Corpus Christi. He asked for any nominations or if the Board wanted to leave the decision up to himand Maria Corona to find Mr. Miller’s replacement. Steve stated that since this is to replace, we do not have to appear in front of the Council. Once the position expires, we will have to go in front of the Council for approval of the replacement. Steve asked for suggestions, and preferably a City employee to fill the vacancy. Lisa Aguilar stated that since this is a replacement, the Board can choose. She stated that the position expires in December 2025. Steve stated that we will work with the City Secretary’s office on nominations,and the Council will choosethe new board member.Jeff asked if they had anyone in mind. Steve recommended Ryan Skrobarczyk, and Maria recommended Heather Hurlbert. Jeff Edmonds stated that we need someone who can be committed toand attend meetings. A motion was made by Jeff Edmondsto nominate Ryan Skrobarczyk to replace Tyler Miller. A second was made by Nick Winkelmann. The Vote: Nomination Approved. (5) HDR Contract: To update the Water Management Plan DISCUSSION:Steve Ramos,the District’s Manager,gave an update toinform the Boardthat we are currently delinquent with the Rules and Management Plan. It went from TWDB to TCEQ for force of action. Steve has talked to TCEQ and they asked if we were working on it. He informed them that yes, we have hired HDR and that Kristi Shaw is currently working on updating the Management Plan and Rules. We have a meeting with her next week to discuss the action plan. Steve stated that we need to work exponentially, as if we do not get it done quickly, we will be under enforcement action. Jeff Edmonds stated that the Board is now so informed of the current delinquent status. Nick Winkelmann asked about the timeline of completion and informing TCEQ, so that we can get out of enforcement status. He stated that we do not need bad publicity. Steve replied that we will get those answers from Kristi at next week’s meeting. Maria Corona replied that she believes that HDR will complete it in approximately two months, as she feels it will be a quick update, including whatever rules have changed, but other than that, there should be minor changes. Steve stated that we can always go back and complete a more in-depth rule-making changes, and updates. (6) Discussion: ASR Ideas DISCUSSION: The District Manager, Steve Ramos, informed the Board that one of the boundaries of the District and the majority of where we were going to provide an ASR opportunity is near the Airport the extraction and discharge located at Greenwood. We are in the process of working with a company called Oxy to utilize some of the reuse water coming from Greenwood. They could potentially diminish the amounts of water that we put into the ASR. But with other projects coming on, expansions, and new development there could be more room in that wastewater treatment plant to use as source water for an ASR project. Jeff Edmonds stated that we could potentially give it away pretty rapidly. Steve concurred. (7) Discussion: Desalination Updates DISCUSSION: Steve Ramos informed the Board that we are working really hard with desal. It is looking great. Next week will be a pivotal moment with the Council, with the cost analysis. Inner Harbor is working really well right now. Drew Molly stated that the bottom line is that we are giving Council and the community a drought-proof water supply project that works. The cost has gone up a little bit more than what was originally anticipated. Those things happen on big capital projects. Ultimately, it is going to be up to City Council to decide whether or not they want to do the project based on the cost update. Not just Tuesday, but really the following Tuesday, because we are bringing an amendment to them to advance the design to 60%. But, if they do not like it, we cannot do the design. (8) Discussion: Evangeline Updates DISCUSSION: Steve Ramos provided an update on the Evangeline project. This is groundwater. It's an opportunity to take from the Evangeline Laguna area through Sinton. We are still in negotiations with that group, but it is moving through the process. We will get a better picture of how we are going to integrate this into our overall distributions, or whether we are going to move on to a different project. Nick W. asked when the next meeting with Evangeline is. Drew M. replied that it was on July 23rd. Jeff E. voiced concerns with adding more to the Mary Rhodes Pipeline. Drew M. stated that Bryan Williams is taking water off the stream where we would be putting it in. He is taking 12MGD. Drew stated that running at full capacity is the best time to pump water in. (9) Discussion: Well Projects DISCUSSION: Steve Ramos provided an update on the well projects from the Nueces River. He stated it is going very well. Nick W. stated that currently, 5 MGD is going into the river, and we are hoping that another well will come online next week. It will be more towards the end of next week. Steve stated that we are in the process of applying for a th temporary permit. Notice has already gone out on the 8 of July. So far we haven’t heard anything. He checked the website and with TCEQ, but not updates. Drew stated that right now we are adding 500 million gallons into the river. No one has been complaining about it. No issues with TDS levels . Flint Hills, San Pat and Celanese, all who take the water have been notified. None of them have had any issues. We have to thth get to July 28. It is out for Public Comment until the 28. (10) Staff Announcements: Steve thanked everyone for coming and informed the Board that we are going to try to th have more regular meetings, and they will be held at City Hall in the 6Floor Conference Room. It works better for the schedule than having them at Holly. Need to keep everyone informed. We are looking at expanding the District. There is a lot that goes into that question. What are the legalities? Will it create unforeseen problems if we did? Those will need to be vetted and discussed. Steve then stated that in the current drought situation, we have had more permit applications from individuals within the district boundaries. A lot of them are coming from the Island and Flour Bluff. We are getting a lot of attention on our website. We have a robust communication plan that is out there, trying to educate the community. If you have a well, what are you supposed to be doing with the well? How do you get it registered? In addition, we are talking with CCW’s Backflow division to make sure that it is also covered. We have met with that team. We are putting more out there on the communication plan regarding our CCW365. Getting a lot of traction from the sporting events' advertisements. A lot of Council members saw it, so we will continue with it again this year. Maria added to put out for future discussion an irrigation pond in the Country Club Townhomes. We approved a permit 4-5 years ago. Getting the conversation started that they would like to have more water. Currently, a quarter of an acre-foot per acre owned. They want to utilize more. They do a good job on the report. They want us to consider increasing the amount. The Board can make a variation. Councilman Barrera lives there, so it could get political. The HOA communicates with him, and he reached out. Maria stated no vote at this time, just wanted to bring to the Board’s attention. Nick W. asked for a formal request. Lisa A. agreed. Maria C. stated that we will work with them and bring something to the Board. (11) Adjournment: There being no further business to discuss, Manager Steve Ramos adjourned the meeting at 3:59 pm.