Corpus Christi is in a long-term drought, but City Hall gives the biggest water users a pass on paying and doing their fair share.
For nearly a decade, large industrial water users have been allowed to pay a modest exemption fee to avoid drought surcharges and some conservation requirements, even during severe drought stages.
It's time for voters to decide if that's fair.
Corpus Christi's "Drought Exemption Fee" means residents, small businesses, schools, and hospitals must conserve water and may face fines or surcharges during drought conditions, while big industrial users – who consume more water than all others combined – can opt out of their obligations.
In our current Stage 3 drought conditions, this approach represents a clear danger to our community's long-term health, safety and prosperity. Continued industrial exemptions put everyone at more immediate risk of a prolonged major water crisis and the economic drain that will result, across the entire region.
That's why a coalition of Corpus Christi community groups are supporting the Fair Water Amendment, a proposed change to the Corpus Christi City Charter to help restore fairness and stability to drought response.
If approved by voters, the FWA would:
- 1End exemption programs that allow only large industrial water users to avoid drought surcharges and conservation requirements.
- 2Require all large industrial users to pay drought surcharges once the current exemption program lawfully terminates.
- 3Set minimum industrial drought surcharges based on rates already adopted by the City Council in 2025, and only allow voters to reduce them.
- 4Require large industrial users to follow all applicable drought conservation, allocation, and curtailment rules.
- 5Apply the same standards to the City's wholesale water customers, ensuring fairness across the entire system.
The Fair Water Amendment would not raise water rates for any residential, commercial, institutional or agricultural users and does not mandate the collection of drought surcharges for anyone other than the largest industrial users.
A reliable water supply is essential to Corpus Christians. The Fair Water Amendment ensures that no single class of water user can shift drought costs or conservation obligations onto everyone else, and that City Hall manages our most critical public resource responsibly and transparently.
Most of all, we want Corpus Christi's water future to be decided by the people.
If you do too, please support our campaign by signing the petition to put the Fair Water Amendment on the November 2026 ballot!
