CORPUS CHRISTI — Voters in this industrial port city on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a citizen-led petition to impose steep added fees for water use on the region’s refineries and chemical plants during droughts.
The measure passed by a 2-to-1 ratio despite heavy spending by industry groups that opposed it. The result was a sharp rebuke to industrial interests in a city which leads the nation in crude oil exports, and which is struggling with a dire water shortage.
About this story
The San Antonio Express-News is publishing this article in partnership with Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment, and KEDT, a public broadcasting station in Corpus Christi…