How city’s handling of water led to Proposition B

As printed in the Corpus Christi Caller Times on October 29, 2926.

Proposition B, the Fair Water Amendment, is the latest chapter in a much longer story about how our city has chosen to manage scarcity, industrial demand, and the costs of securing water.

Recent reporting from KUT and Inside Climate News traced that story back to 2018, when city and industry leaders advanced a plan intended to make Corpus Christi “drought proof.” Large industrial users would help fund a seawater desalination project, and in return they would be protected from certain drought-related costs and cutbacks. The city eventually spent at least $50 million pursuing the project, yet the plant was never built. By this spring, our reservoirs had nearly dried up, the city was scrambling for emergency supplies, and residents were again being asked to conserve.

The current drought surcharge exemption fee was created in 2018. Qualifying large industrial customers pay a modest annual fee instead of applicable drought surcharges. The current fee is about 31 cents per 1,000 gallons, and the revenue generated cannot be spent on anything other than future drought-resistant water supplies, specifically desalination.

That history matters because it helps explain why Proposition B, the Fair Water Amendment, is on the ballot.

Proposition B is a citizen-initiated charter amendment focused specifically on large industrial water users during declared drought conditions. It would phase out drought-surcharge exemption programs, establish minimum industrial drought surcharges, and require affected large industrial users to comply with applicable conservation, allocation, and curtailment rules. It does not impact residential or small-business water rates.

But there is another side to that equation.

Chisme Collective recently analyzed public water-use records from the city of Corpus Christi and the San Patricio Municipal Water District. Based on industrial water use between June 2024 and December 2025, it estimated that applicable Stage 2 and Stage 3 drought surcharges could have generated about $310.6 million. By comparison, the exemption-fee program that is currently in place generated about $32 million from October 2018 through December 2025 — a 90% savings for a handful of big corporations.

In other words … it tells us something important about the tradeoff built into our current policy: The city chose a policy that guaranteed a much smaller fee while shielding some of the region’s largest water users from substantially higher drought surcharges. Meanwhile, they chose to subject residents to drought restrictions while not addressing the root cause of water scarcity. KUT reported that chemical plants and refineries use more water than all roughly 500,000 residents of the seven-county Coastal Bend combined.

Opponents of Proposition B argue that it would reduce flexibility for future councils to change industrial surcharge rates. The reality is, Prop. B sets a floor but not a ceiling. Future councils could not reduce industrial surcharge rates below what the current City Council adopted without voter approval, but they could increase them anytime. What they could not do through ordinary ordinance is lower them below the voter-approved minimums or recreate the same type of exemption.

That is really what this debate is about: Who should carry the costs and responsibilities of drought, and how much discretion should future city leaders have to create special privileges for already wealthy and powerful interests?

Corpus Christi residents used the citizen-petition process to put this question before voters. Over 12,000 residents signed, the petition was validated, and the election was ordered. I hope residents take the time to read Proposition B, look at the history that brought us here, and ask whether our current approach to drought has served this community well.

Water is not just another commodity. It is a shared necessity, and the decisions we make about it should reflect the limits of our environment and serve those who depend on it for life rather than profit.

Early voting began Oct. 19 and continues through Oct. 30. Election Day is Nov. 3.

Chloe Torres is a born-and-raised Corpus Christian, graduate of Carroll High School and Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi, and current resident. Torres serves as the Coastal Bend regional coordinator for Texas Campaign for the Environment.