November 2, 2012

Lake levels for the Lake Corpus Christi/Choke Canyon Reservoir system continue to slowly decline as severe drought conditions continue over much of the watershed.

Regular inflows have maintained Lake Texana in Jackson County at more than 85% of capacity since since March. It was full as recently as October 7th. Much of the Navidad River watershed is completely out of all drought conditions as can be seen on the latest NOAA drought coverage map.

The long-term forecast is for drought conditions to improve over South Texas and possibly to end in the next few months. Recent rainfall amounts have not been significant however.

All of San Patricio County remains in either severe or extreme drought.

Cooler fall weather and shorter days have contributed to a slowdown in reservoir evaporation and customer demand for lawn watering.

Without additional rainfall in the Nueces River watershed the combined level of Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon Reservoir will drop below 40% of capacity in the coming weeks. That will trigger the second stage of the regional Drought Contingency Plan.

That will mean that all regional communities will be asked to restrict all mid-day lawn watering on a mandatory basis. The target will be to achieve at least a 5% reduction in demand for each municipal water system. The Water District serves municipal systems in Odem, Taft, Portland, Gregory, Ingleside, Aransas Pass, Rockport and Port Aransas plus two rural water supply corporations. Each will need to enforce conservation measures to help extend the region's water supplies.

Water demand during the period from November to March typically drops dramatically as homeowners cut their use of water on dormant turf grasses and scrubs.