New questions are emerging about how City of Corpus Christi enforces its drought contingency plan and whether large industrial water users are getting a pass when supplies tighten.
City Councilman Gil Hernandez says parts of the plan are unclear, particularly language dealing with exemptions for high-volume users.
Hernandez told 3News that one section appears to exempt those users from drought stages one through three, phases that typically trigger conservation measures.
“It specifically says they are exempt from stages 1, 2 and 3,” Hernandez said. “Now, we’ve never put a surcharge in those stages… so we haven’t done any curtailment.”
But another section of the plan raises a different question, what happens during a declared water emergency.
Hernandez points to wording that references “non-exempt large volume water users,” arguing it creates a gray area that could impact enforcement.
“That creates enough gray area to say whether they are exempt from paying a surcharge during a water emergency or are they not,” he said.
City Manager Peter Zanoni acknowledged the confusion and said the city is working to tighten the language.
“We will be working with the councilman to make sure that our customers, our Council, and our customers clearly understand… surcharges, curtailment, baseline use, that type of thing,” Zanoni said.
Despite the ambiguity, Zanoni stressed that major industrial users will not be spared if drought conditions worsen.
He says the city is counting on those users to make significant cuts, potentially saving more than 15 million gallons of water per day during a level one water emergency.
“They are the ones who have not necessarily reduced consumption,” Zanoni said.
City leaders say a 25% reduction from large industrial users could be critical to maintaining water service across Corpus Christi as drought conditions persist.