CORPUS CHRISTI, TX — Corpus Christi apartment residents could receive a fraction of the water allocated to single-family homeowners if the city enters a Level 1 water emergency, according to concerns raised at a recent city council meeting.
Under the proposed plan, apartment buildings would be treated like any other commercial business — a classification that property managers say fails to account for how apartment residents actually use water.
"Apartment residents would be expected to live on roughly one quarter of the water allocated to other Corpus Christi residents," Nicole Harmon, Vice President of the Corpus Christi Apartment Association, said at the June 2nd city council meeting.
Cliff Colwell, manager of SPV Property Management, said the people affected are essential members of the community.
"These residents include refinery workers, healthcare workers, teachers, retail employees, service workers, retired seniors," Cliff Colwell said.
Colwell runs four apartment complexes and said the commercial classification does not reflect the reality of residential apartment living.
"While apartment buildings are classified as commercial customers we are fundamentally different from office buildings, car dealerships, convenience stores," Colwell said to city council.
One key difference is how water is metered. Unlike single-family homes, most apartment properties in Corpus Christi share a single water meter, meaning all residents in a building draw from the same allocation — and would share the cost of any surcharges triggered by overuse.
"Most properties in Corpus just have one meter per property so all the residents are sharing what flows through that one meter," Cliff Colwell said.
Apartment renters also typically do not use water for irrigation, vehicle washing, or other discretionary purposes that single-family homeowners might cut back on during a water emergency. Cliff Colwell said that creates an additional burden for his tenants.
"They're literally being asked not to use water for a week out of the month," Colwell said.
Colwell said he has invested between $80,000-$100,000 on water-efficient appliances, including low-consumption toilets and faucets, in the past few years. He is now asking the city to adjust how water allocations are calculated for apartment buildings.
"These people are citizens of Corpus Christi who live in apartments. We'd like to see it billed on a per-door basis rather than just a flat baseline," Cliff Colwell said.
City Manager Peter Zanoni said he and his staff will meet with the apartment association again to revise the current plan.
For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
Catch all the KRIS 6 News stories and more on our YouTube page. Subscribe today!
