CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas —
A petition six years in the making cleared a major hurdle Tuesday when the Corpus Christi City Council voted to place the Fair Water Amendment on the November ballot.
The amendment, backed by 12,788 verified signatures, aims to eliminate the drought surcharge exemption fee for large-volume water users. The fee, 31 cents per 1,000 gallons, currently allows industrial users to avoid drought surcharges if they are triggered.
Armon Alex, director of the Fair Water Amendment, said the vote reflected the will of the community.
"All we know is the voice of residents have spoken," Alex said.
Councilmember Sylvia Campos has been advocating since 2020 to remove the exemption fee. She called the vote a win for democracy.
"Should've been a very easy vote," Campos said.
But Tuesday's decision was anything but easy.
Interim City Attorney Buck Brice recommended the council treat the measure as a climate charter amendment, an interpretation that came from the Texas Secretary of State.
Several council members said they disagreed with the amendment itself but could not classify it as a climate amendment.
"I can't say this is climate change related in any way," Councilmember Gil Hernandez said.
The city charter requires only 5% of voter signatures for an amendment to move forward — a threshold the Fair Water Amendment cleared. Hernandez said that fact guided his vote, especially after following charter rules in the mayor removal hearing.
"It'd be far from me to be hypocritical and say I will follow the charter and not follow the charter," Hernandez said.
Councilmember Roland Barrera was one of 2 votes against placing the amendment on the ballot. Barrera said the roughly $6 million a year raised by the exemption fees is helping the city develop drought-proof water solutions.
"Right now we've been blessed with rain and so there's not going to be any fee assessed to anybody including industry. But industry is continuing to pay that surcharge which is what they've been doing for the last eight years," Barrera said.
For supporters who spent months collecting signatures, Tuesday's vote is not the finish line. Alex said the campaign will now shift its focus to Election Day.
"We will be mobilizing residents to the ballot to vote for the Fair Water Amendment," Alex said.
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