June 2021
Due to heavy rains in May and early June the Stage 1 drought water restrictions have been lifted for all residents of the Coastal Bend region who get their water from the regional water system managed by the City of Corpus Christi.
The region had been under restrictions since December when the combined capacity of Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon Reservoir fell below 40%. The combined figure dropped as low as 35% in April following 18 months of minimal rainfall in the Nueces River watershed. Inflows by June 8 had pushed the lake levels back up to 57.4%.
Customers of the regional system can now water landscaped areas with hose-end sprinklers or automatic irrigation systems any day of the week. Use of sprinkler systems is always prohibited between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. regardless of whether other water use restrictions are in place. Hand watering is allowed at any hour when using a positive shut off nozzle.
The region’s surface water supply system includes water from the Nueces River, Lake Texana on the Navidad River and from the Colorado River pump station near Bay City (see map below).
Water users are urged to continue water conservation measure as the region enters the summer period when daily evaporation from the lake system exceeds the amount of water consumed by the nearly 500,000 residents, commercial customers and industries in the region surrounding Corpus Christi Bay.
The San Patricio Municipal Water District’s water supply contract with Corpus Christi requires that the District have and implement a Drought Contingency Plan that is consistent with the city’s plan. The District’s Drought Contingency Plan was updated in 2019 and the entire plan can be reviewed [HERE].
The Drought Contingency Plan is intended to help ensure the region's water security and to strive to see that all customers are treated equitably across the seven counties that rely on the region's reservoir system. The plan sets out how water use restrictions will be triggered and how they will apply to customers.
SPMWD customers include the cities of Odem, Taft, Gregory, Portland, Ingleside, Ingleside-on-the-Bay, Aransas Pass, Rockport, Rincon Water Supply Corp., Seaboard Water Supply Corp., Nueces County WCID 4 and several industrial customers.
