A scientific dispute over the environmental impact of the Inner Harbor desalination project has prompted seven Corpus Christi City Council members to postpone a vote on the project until Sept. 1.The dispute came to a head during Tuesday's 15-hour city council meeting, pitting the Spheros Environmental Group which conducted the far field study against a group of 13 scientists who say the project could affect marine life in nearby bays. City leaders divided over Inner Harbor desalination's effects on marine life, nearby bays"No. Their model seems to indicate there will be potential for impacts," Dr. Michael Wetz and Dr. Sharon Herzka, Far Field Study Committee members, said.The lead modeler on the far field study pushed back on that assessment."No I don't agree with that. I do model water quality a lot. What I'm not going to comment on is the biology side that's their expertise," Dr. Pradeep Mugunthan, lead modeler for the Far Field study, said.District 3 Councilmember Eric Cantu questioned the scope of the study during the meeting."We asked city staff to do a far field study to understand impacts of the bay to see if its safe. And he just said he doesn't know what's in the bay. I don't understand what we're doing," Cantu said.City Manager Peter Zanoni, who participated in the far field committee meetings, defended the Spheros report's conclusions."The Spheros report clearly shows the Inner Harbor Desalination facility would not have an impact on aquatic life in the bay," Zanoni said at Friday's weekly water briefing.Zanoni also addressed why the environmental study did not include an assessment of how the inner harbor project would affect fish and other marine animals."Never in the contract was there any discussion of any marine biology assessment. Never in the contract was there any direction to Spheros nor payment to do a dissolved oxygen model," Zanoni added.The question now facing city leaders is whether to trust the modeler or the scientists who say they need more time."People can draw their own conclusions we appreciate the scientists. Unfortuantely they've never done a far field model. We're gonna believe our consultant that we paid $300,000," Zanoni said.The next city council meeting is June 23. Zanoni said that is where a new water dashboard will be presented, and that the Level 1 water emergency is expected to be pushed to sometime in 2027.For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App. Catch all the KRIS 6 News stories and more on our YouTube page. Subscribe today! ...read more read less