CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The City of Corpus Christi is mounting a legal defense against high-volume water users who are appealing the new proposed water rates to the Public Utility Commission.
Corpus Christi Water Chief Operating Officer Drew Molly said that it all boils down to creating rates that are fair and just. He said that with certain customers looking to appeal, the city is going to have to front a heavy legal bill.
"About $550,000 of cost that were budgeting for this PUC appeal," Molly said. "We feel like we have a true cost of service, and they feel like we don't, so that's where this is going to be litigated is in the Public Utility Commission."
Molly also gave an update on the city's drought contingency plan, especially as it relates to Stage 3. The City is closely monitoring any rain events to see what it means for our lake levels.
"It has helped our combined reservoir levels. Such as any type of threshold that we would be dropping to a stage three which would be the 20% combined level. That date has been pushed back latter in the year," he said.
Molly said the soil moisture content has helped a lot in saturating the watershed. Meaning that if the ground becomes saturated enough, water can effectively runoff and add to our overall numbers.
3NEWS did reach out to Flint Hills Resources, who declined to comment. We also reached out to Valero and LyondellBasell, and did not hear back before news time.