The City Council in Corpus Christi, Texas, has approved a plan to restrict water use during drought emergencies but delayed a decision on a long-awaited desalination plant.
The moves settled one of the water supply issues in a region that’s home to refineries, petrochemical plants and gas-export terminals. The council acted during a contentious meeting that started midday Tuesday and lasted until early Wednesday.
About 100 people signed up to speak, and many of them said local residents had already cut their water use, while the region’s refineries and petrochemical plants continue to consume large amounts of water.
Corpus Christi Water, which supplies both the city and the surrounding region, restructured the fees that high water users would pay during a drought so they apply equally across all classes of users, including large-volume customers like industrial users.
