Corpus Christi residents, businesses and industrial users could pay more for water next year to help cover the cost of expanding the city’s water supply.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Corpus Christi residents, businesses and industrial water users could see higher water and wastewater bills next year as city leaders work to fund major water infrastructure projects approved to address the city’s ongoing water crisis.
The topic was the focus of a City Council workshop Wednesday, where Corpus Christi Water staff outlined the proposed fiscal year 2027 water budget and the costs associated with expanding the city’s water supply.
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According to city staff, this year’s budget differs from previous years because several major water projects approved by the City Council are now moving into phases where debt and operational costs will begin affecting customer rates.
Mayor Paulette Guajardo said those investments are now being factored into the city’s proposed water rates.
“All of the water projects that have come on in the last, I don’t know, year or so are now reflective. They’re going to be reflective or at least portions of them, of that debt, are going to be reflective in our water rates,” Guajardo said.
Guajardo said the projects are necessary to strengthen the city’s water system but acknowledged they come with added costs for customers.
“What a ratepayer’s water bill would go up, which was I think, closer to $2 dollars and then they mentioned that near a dollar of that would be from new projects,” Guajardo said.
City Manager Peter Zanoni said the average residential customer will see a monthly increase of $4.35 for water and wastewater, while the average commercial customer will see a monthly increase of $18.62. He said the residential increase is less than last year despite the addition of new water supplies.
One of the projects contributing to future costs is the Evangeline Groundwater Project.
That’s something that City Councilman Roland Barrera is also concerned with.
“I’ve been supportive of the Evangeline project, contrary to what my colleagues seem to feel,” Barrera said. “It’s just that I feel that we’ve moved a little bit too quickly and so I think right now we’re paying for projects that we still haven’t worked out the volatility with regard to the community, in addition to the developer.”
Guajardo said city leaders are still early in the budget process and emphasized that minimizing the impact on customers will remain a priority.
“The ratepayer is most important and we have to do everything we can to see how we manage that,” Guajardo said.
For large-volume users, city leaders project that monthly rate increases could reach the tens of thousands of dollars.
City Council is expected to continue discussing the proposed rates during another water workshop next week. Council members also plan to review drought surcharge exemption fees and the city’s consent decree, a legally binding agreement requiring Corpus Christi to invest a certain amount of money into its water system.
Zanoni said that all rate adjustments will be effective on Jan 1, 2027, if approved by City Council.