CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — City leaders are beginning to notice the effect of drought conditions as it loses access to 20% of its water supply.
"What it indicated is what we're expecting, which is extreme to severe draught for this region through the summer," said Corpus Christi City Manager Peter Zanoni.
Zanoni found out when he met with the National Weather Service last week to prepare for drought conditions that resources were slim. It comes as the City announced Wednesday it can no longer access water from the Colorado River in East Texas, one of its four water sources.
"The water from the storm runoff is dry at this point, there is no water to draw," Zanoni said. "And so the Lower Colorado River Authority has notified us that we won't be able to pump water from the river until it does replenish itself."
The City plans to utilize its other three water sources in the meantime. At Lake Corpus Christi, Choke Canyon Reservoir, and Lake Texana, all three sources have seen their overall capacity decrease in the last month. However, City officials say there is still no cause for concern.
"The limited access that we have now to the lower Colorado River definitely has an effect on our water sources," said District 2 councilmember Ben Molina. "Fortunately, we do have other sources, we've diversified, and so that there will be no disruption currently."
Zanoni said the National Weather Service projects significantly less rain in the coming months. That, combined with higher temperatures, is why the City is urging citizens to voluntarily conserve water to avoid the need for restrictions.
"We can't control the weather, but we can control messaging to the community. We can control use of water," Zanoni said. "And so the team is very much engaged, we're activated, we're going to continue to communicate not only to Nueces County residents, but six other counties that rely on us every day for that water."
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