Coastal Action Network: Vote NO on Proposition 4

As advocates for local water security and justice, our coalition is committed to solutions that prioritize the needs of residents and small local businesses, and protect our coastal environment.

Proposition 4, on the November ballot, promises to “secure Texas’s water future” by dedicating up to $1 billion a year from state sales tax revenue to a new Texas Water Fund for water supply projects, infrastructure, and flood mitigation.

It sounds good, but behind the campaign tagline lies a proposal that gives sweeping control over billions in taxpayer funds to a small state board. We believe that structure all but guarantees that the biggest, most politically connected projects – like seawater desalination plants – will rise to the top, while more equitable and cost-effective local solutions – like leak repair, wastewater reuse, and conservation – will get left behind.

In our region, industrial users consume at least half and perhaps as much as three-quarters of the Coastal Bend’s water, meaning that proposed local desal plants – like the recently-defeated Inner Harbor project – are only needed to serve industrial growth, not residents or small businesses. But, Prop. 4 would plainly make it easier for those huge projects to draw on public dollars.

Another concern is inflexibility. Because Prop. 4 would embed this funding mechanism into the state constitution, the rules cannot be revised for at least a decade, even if the results prove inequitable or environmentally damaging. Locking billions of taxpayer dollars into a rigid, top-down system removes the flexibility that good water policy demands.

Supporters of the amendment say it is an urgent step to head off water shortages. But we believe urgency does not justify bypassing community input and giving unchecked discretion to politicians in Austin to decide whose needs matter most. It does not justify the lack of enforceable standards to protect our environment, like salinity standards for our bays and estuaries. It does not justify the blank check that is Proposition 4.

A better water strategy begins much closer to home. We can stretch our supply and fully meet the needs of residents and small local businesses through repair, reuse and conservation — investments that cost less and preserve the ecosystems that sustain our fragile coast. These solutions protect both people and place.

The Coastal Bend deserves water policies rooted in fairness, transparency, and environmental stewardship, not policies that prioritizes profiteers over people. Proposition 4 risks turning our shared water into a commodity for the highest bidder while shifting costs to residents and small businesses. Texas can do better. The Coastal Bend can do better. We urge a NO vote on Proposition 4.