Electorate in Corpus Christi to determine whether business should pay significantly higher waters rates during droughts.

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Pools are recovering, but Corpus Christi’s liquid dispute is still ongoing. The City Council has mandated a public vote on a plea that the petitioners are asking to strongly increase the cost of water for industrial facilities during dryness.

Before November’s election, the plan is anticipated to experience a myriad of constitutional objections. When reservoir levels are below 30 % complete, like they were for 29 weeks until early August, it would cost the state’s largest water customers, including ExxonMobil, Occidental Chemical, and Valero, millions of dollars in fees. Almost 13, 000 registered voters signed petitions for community and environmental organizations to get their plan on the ballot.

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At the City Council meeting on Tuesday night, Corpus Christi Mayor Pro-tem Kaylynn Paxson said,” This was a lot of petitions.” This is not a dailyoccurrence, says the author. I’m delighted and surprised to report that this really occurred.

Following years of growing conflicts between the people in Corpus Christi and the industrial giant, which consume massive amounts of water, the 6-2 decision to call a special election on the referendum was made. Residents of the area pleaded for authorities to reduce water consumption at refineries and chemical plants as the region’s main reservoirs decreased from 30 % full in March of 2024 to less than 8 % full in May of this year.

As Corpus Christi came dangerously close to running out of water, activists started printing the plea for the vote, which was called the Fair Water Amendment, this year. Months of campaigning took the form of hundreds of signature gatherings for regional nonprofits like Texas Campaign for the Environment and paid campaigners for For the Greater Good.

In remarks to the City Council on Tuesday, For the Greater Great part Miriam Guerra-Rachidy said,” Something that seemed impossible gave me hope in our democracy.” It gave me hope that people can influence society. After a gloomy spring and summer filled the region’s main reservoir system, which is currently 42 % complete, it is no longer in immediate danger of disaster.

When reservoirs become below 30 % capacity, the Fair Water Amendment would put in place a 70 % water rate increase for Corpus Christi’s largest industrial water users. If the area declares a liquid emergency, it would apply a 140 percent increase when reservoirs drop below 20 percent and a 280 percent increase when reservoirs drop below 20 percent.

Yet proponents of the plan are anticipating legal action from business associations in the coming months.

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No doubt, Sylvia Campos, a City Council member who fought for the act,” will become challenged.” That’s the nature of the lion, they say.

According to Corpus Christi City Manager Peter Zanoni, many aspects of the proposed act may be challenging. The plan calls for rate increases for industrial complexes that purchase their water from water regions or towns as well as those that purchase it from intermediaries like liquid districts or towns. More than 20 additional cities and towns in Corpus Christi are served by its seven-county place, which also has access to water.

They don’t report to this City Council or to me. We can’t determine their rates for them because they are independent, complete entities, Zanoni told the City Council on Tuesday. You don’t have the power to do that, you say.

The state’s Public Utility Commission has the authority to impose a drought tax on the state’s direct industrial customers, who have already filed lawsuits against the state’s current waters rate and have demanded an$ 80 million refund.

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The poll measure’s support on Tuesday, when Corpus Christi City Council voted to support it, was refuted by its own attorney, who suggested that officials halt the referendum in violation of a tangled state law that forbids amendments to provincial charters relating to climate change. Interim City Attorney Buck Brice wrote in a town note that the Fair Water Amendment would not be allowed on the ballot if the City Council passed an ordinance that designated it as being related to climate change.

However, council member Gil Hernandez, who opposed imposing the tax on big business water people, claimed he did not believe the Fair Water Amendment may be categorized as” weather modify” related.

Hernandez remarked,” It’s too much of a stretch.” Yet though I disagree with the amendment’s terms. In an effort to alter the weather, I won’t perform any athletic stunts.

Gil Hernandez, a part of the City Council, stated that while he was not in favor of the proposed Fair Water Amendment, he also acknowledged that residents had met all criteria for its inclusion on the November ballot. “data-large-file = “https: //i0. wp.com/www. texastribune. org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/CityCouncilScreenshot-2-1024×576-1. tiff? fit=780 %2C439&ssl=1” src= “https: //i0. wp.com/www. texastribune. org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/CityCouncilScreenshot-2-1024×576-1. jpeg? Gil Hernandez, a part of the City Council, acknowledged that residents had met all needs for the inclusion of the proposed Fair Water Amendment on the November ballot. He responded by saying he didn’t acknowledge with it. ” class =”wp-image-239713″ srcset = “https: //i0. wp.com/www. texastribune. org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/CityCouncilScreenshot-2-1024×576-1. tiff? w=1024&ssl=1 1024w, https ://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune .org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/CityCouncilScreenshot-2-1024×576-1.jpg ?resize=300 %2C169&ssl=1 300w, https ://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune .org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/CityCouncilScreenshot-2-1024×576-1.jpg ?resize=768 %2C432&ssl=1 768w, https ://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune .org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/CityCouncilScreenshot-2-1024×576-1.jpg ?resize=780 %2C439&ssl=1 780w, https ://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune .org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/CityCouncilScreenshot-2-1024×576-1.jpg ?resize=800 %2C450&ssl=1 800w, https ://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune .org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/CityCouncilScreenshot-2-1024×576-1.jpg ?resize=400 %2C225&ssl=1 400w, https ://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune .org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/CityCouncilScreenshot-2-1024×576-1.jpg ?w=370&ssl=1 370w” sizes =”auto, ( max-width: 1024px ) 100vw, 1024px”>

The ballot on Tuesday marked the culmination of a year-long organizing campaign for Isabel Araiza, the organizer of the petition drive and the For the Greater Good founder. She claimed that the group was enthralled by the fear and severity of this year’s water problems. According to Araiza, a local university professor,” civic engagement is flourishing and it’s stunning” because the proposal will be on November’s ballot. The powerful industry [doesn’t ] want people to recognize their power, and people are already doing so.

This report was written by Neena Satija of the Texas Newsroom.

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Disclosure: Valero has contributed to The Texas Tribune, a non-partisan, nonprofit news organization that is partially funded by donations from people, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Financial followers are not involved in The Texas Tribune’s reporting. Here is a full list of them.

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Aug 12, 2026Hill Country Post

Electorate in Corpus Christi to determine whether business should pay significantly higher waters rates during droughts.

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