Coastal Action Network Urges FWA Support

All six member groups of the Coastal Action Network (CAN) – Chispa Texas, Coastal Watch Association, Concerned Citizens of Robstown and Calallen, For the Greater Good, Hillcrest Residents Association, and Texas Campaign for the Environment – have voted to endorse Proposition B, the Fair Water Amendment. Corpus Christi voters will decide on the measure in the November 3 election.

Proposition B would change the Corpus Christi city charter to end the “drought surcharge exemption” program, which for nearly a decade has allowed large industrial water users to pay a modest exemption fee to avoid drought surcharges and some conservation requirements, even during severe drought stages. Proposition B would terminate and ban programs that let large industrial users skip drought surcharges and curtailment rules during drought. It would also require the city to collect drought surcharges from large industrial users at a minimum rate adopted by the City Council in the March 2025 Drought Contingency Plan.

The measure reached the ballot through a citizen-led petition drive that gathered over 12,000 signatures from Corpus Christi voters earlier this year.

"During periods of drought, large-volume industrial water users, who use more of our region’s water than everyone else combined, should be paying applicable drought surcharges,” said CAN Coordinator Eli McKay. “To exempt them from even being subject to those surcharges – especially in exchange for a fee that hasn’t generated enough revenue to pay for 5% of the proposed Inner Harbor plant – is grossly unfair. Proposition B will require industrial water users to finally pay their fair share for water during drought, and our coalition urges voters to support it.”