Pictured is a digital render of the proposed Bayshore Desalination Facility site.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) will hold a public meeting in November for Galveston County residents to give input and ask questions about a proposed desalination plant near Galveston Bay.
The meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Nov. 10 at the Nessler Civic Center in Texas City, according to a TCEQ announcement.
During the meeting, residents will have two opportunities to weigh in on the proposed Bayshore Desalination Facility. During an informal discussion, the public can ask questions about the proposed facility to be answered by TCEQ and EPCOR Utilities Inc.officials, who are seeking to build the plant.
The meeting will also have a formal comment period where residents can provide statements to go on the official record. TCEQ's executive director will give a written response to the formal comments, and the formal comments will be considered before officials decide whether to grant EPCOR the wastewater discharge permit needed to build the plant.
The proposed Bayshore Desalination Facility aims to help with water security in the region by removing salt and minerals from seawater to produce 24.5 million gallons of drinking water a day for a region that’s home to nearly 8 million residents, according to Canadian-based utility company EPCOR Utilities Inc.
Jacob Hupp, the government affairs and public policy manager at Galveston Bay Foundation, said the organization plans to have representatives at the November meeting. Hupp said the foundation is worried about how the plant could impact the bay's sea life.
"We believe that a sensitive enclosed estuary is not the right location for desalination facilities in the state of Texas," Hupp said. "These are enclosed sensitive areas, and it’s generally these bays are where red fish come to spawn and where a significant number of marine species — they spawn in the bays and estuaries."
Hupp said he would prefer the proposed plant discharge wastewater into the Gulf rather than the smaller, shallower Galveston Bay, since Hupp said the hypersaline brine in the discharge could lower dissolved oxygen, which fish need to survive.
"We don’t oppose desalination as a concept. We are opposed to desalination intake and discharge in the bay system," Hupp said.
EPCOR officials have repeatedly assured residents that the plant would have a minimal impact on the environment.
According to EPCOR, one study on the proposed plant found that the company’s excess saltwater from the treatment process has little to no effect on waters within half a mile of entering the open bay. The second study found that the discharge’s average salinity level falls within the optimal range for species such as fish, oysters, crab and shrimp to thrive, according to previous Houston Public Media reporting.
"We won’t know whether or not this will have consequences for designated aquatic life use in Galveston Bay until the plant is operational. So, it can’t be proven until it exists essentially," Hupp said.
EPCOR initially filed a discharge permit application with TCEQ in October 2025, a required step for the state to approve the development and operation of the seawater desalination facility near the south shore of Galveston Bay.
TCEQ issued a public notice in July informing residents that officials had finished the initial review of the proposed Bayshore Desalination Facility permit application. Officials issued a draft permit and made a preliminary decision stating that the current proposal meets set requirements.
The November public meeting is one of the final steps in the approval process before officials make a final decision on whether to grant EPCOR the wastewater discharge permit.
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