MCALLEN, Texas — In its first major public appearance, the team behind a massive proposed regional seawater desalination project declared that the time has come for the Rio Grande Valley to secure an "uninterruptible" water supply to sustain its booming population and economic growth.
Speaking at a Regional Water Infrastructure Forum hosted by the Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at the Embassy Suites in McAllen, Doug Allison, board member and regulatory counsel for US Desalination, unveiled plans for a scalable seawater desalination facility on South Padre Island.
The project, dubbed RGV Desal, is an offshoot of US Desalination. The company has partnered with IDE Technologies, an Israeli multinational desalination giant that designed and operates the Carlsbad facility in California—currently one of only two large-scale seawater desalination plants in the United States.
Allison was joined on stage by Albert Escobedo, South Texas Government Affairs director for US Desalination.
Allison, a South Texas native born and raised in Corpus Christi, did not mince words about the looming water crisis facing the region. Despite recent El Niño-driven rains that temporarily replenished regional reservoirs, he emphasized that the long-term forecast remains critical for what was historically known as the "Wild Horse Desert."
"We all know that’s not going to change anything long term," Allison told the audience. "The demand is increasing, the supply is decreasing."
With the Rio Grande Valley’s population projected to climb from 1.3 million to more than 4 million by 2070, Allison argued that existing surface water from the Rio Grande and local groundwater resources are finite and under severe strain. He noted that drawing too heavily on groundwater triggers a fierce competition that harms local farmers and ranchers.
"Seawater desalination is the only long-term, sustainable, uninterruptible supply of water," Allison said, noting that major industrial and commercial developments require 20- to 50-year water guarantees to secure financing. "You’re not going to get those development projects without being able to guarantee a sustainable water source."
According to figures presented by US Desalination, a 50-million-gallon-per-day (MGD) facility would generate an estimated $55 billion in regional economic activity.
After an exhaustive search analyzing property records, Google Earth, and NOAA nautical charts across locations including Boca Chica, the Brownsville Ship Channel, and the Laguna Madre mainland, US Desalination selected a site north of the city limits of South Padre Island, near the Cameron-Willacy county line.
Allison described the offshore intake and offshore discharge model planned for the site as the "gold standard" for both operational efficiency and environmental protection.
Placing the intake offshore ensures a predictable, high-quality stream of water compared to the shallower bays, while an offshore discharge allows the ocean's ambient currents to rapidly dilute the leftover brine.
Allison acknowledged that the specialized piping required for the project—featuring a 144-inch diameter intake pipe and a 60- to 72-inch discharge pipe—is highly expensive. Choosing a site with close proximity to deep Gulf waters keeps those pipe lengths shorter, reducing overall project costs and keeping the delivered water affordable.
The facility is designed to be modular and scalable, starting at 50 MGD with the capacity to expand to 120 MGD as regional demand escalates.
A significant portion of Allison's presentation was dedicated to addressing community anxieties surrounding the environmental impact of desalination brine on marine life. Allison, an avid offshore fisherman and diver, stated that modern technology has completely eliminated the hazards of older, thermal-based desalination methods.
To demonstrate, Allison shared an underwater video of an active discharge point at a major facility in Australia, showing fish, jellyfish, and marine flora flourishing directly around the vents.
The project will utilize state-of-the-art, high-velocity diffusers to ensure rapid dilution. While the brine leaves the plant at a concentration of roughly 66 parts per thousand (ppt) compared to the Gulf’s ambient 34 ppt, Allison noted it returns to within 2 ppt of natural background levels within 50 to 100 meters of the discharge point.
He emphasized that the team’s modeling and testimony had already survived rigorous vetting during contested case hearings before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
"The most sensitive thing to ever consider is probably red drum larva," Allison noted. "And we know that we are protective of red drum larva. The administrative law judges agreed to that, and the TCEQ confirmed that."
The US Desalination team includes world-class experts, such as Nathan Lott, an Australian marine ecologist who conducted a seminal six-year environmental study on desalination and later helped rewrite California’s desalination regulations.
To transport the treated fresh water from the island back to the mainland, US Desalination is exploring multiple options, including a collaboration with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to affix the water pipeline to the proposed second keyside causeway.
"Our timeline will maybe be quicker than their bridge," Allison joked, noting that the company is prepared to utilize alternative existing rights-of-way to cross the Laguna Madre if necessary.
Once on the mainland near Bayview, the company intends to build a regional footprint. Backed by support from leadership in Austin—including a push from the state legislature, which recently passed billions in new water infrastructure funding—state leaders have encouraged agencies to volunteer their rights-of-way to expedite the pipeline moving west toward McAllen and Edinburg.
US Desalination has initiated introductory communications with major regional water stakeholders, including:
The project arrives amid immense political momentum. Allison pointed to public statements of support from Valley leaders, including Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez, State Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, and State Rep. Armando "Mando" Martinez.
Allison closed the presentation by quoting Senator Hinojosa's mantra: "Water is life; without it, we cannot sustain growth."
"Learn from those of us who live a little bit to the north of you. Don't wait too long," Allison urged the audience. "We have a team that has gotten the permitting done... and we have the right group doing the design, oversight of construction, and making sure that startup and operations go smoothly."
