CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — We have certainly seen our fair share of rain over the past week or so. But is any of that water getting into our reservoirs?
We have been under stage one drought restrictions and getting closer to stage two.
”Right now, with this rain, our drought conditions are certainly improving," Maria Corona with Utilities Compliance for the City of Corpus Christi said.
"We are still in stage one drought. Stage one drought will not be lifted until our reservoirs are above 50%. As of today we are at 39.3%."
Corona is the superintendent over Utilities Compliance. Her job is to keep a close eye on our water supply which partially relies on the watershed to send rain water to fill up Choke Canyon and Corpus Christi lakes.
"In the last couple of days at Choke Canyon and Lake Corpus Christi, we saw a total of amount of about seven inches within that area so that’s really good for our reservoirs," Corona said.
Corona added that a US geological survey graph shows that the Frio River in Tilden is now above 16 feet. That’s helping to get water into our lakes. By May 22, the water level there is supposed to go up another three feet.
"We think our reservoirs capacity will go about 40% by the end of this week," Corona said. "Hopefully, if we continue seeing the rain forecasted.”
Mayor Paulette Guajardo said the rains came just in time to head off more water restrictions.
"As you know, Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon have received a little over seven inches of rain," Guajardo said. "That’s a very big improvement. Our drought conditions are lessened, if you will, and the chances of us going into stage two or entering stage two are really slim right now.”
Stage two restrictions might be avoided altogether, at least until next year.
"Without any rains, we probably would’ve seen stage two in the next couple of months but because of these rains that has extended out to, hopefully, by the end of the year, we won’t see any stage two restrictions," Corona said.
That’s great news and hopefully, our rainy season, which is traditionally in September, will help to continue to fill up Choke Canyon and Corpus Christi lakes.
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