The city of Corpus Christi in Texas could face a water emergency within months, official estimates warn, after a major water source dropped to critically low levels, with others projected to continue to drop.
Lake Corpus Christi, one of the city’s major sources of water, has dropped below 10 percent capacity, its lowest level on record, amid an ongoing years-long drought.
According to Corpus Christi’s online water supply dashboard, the city could reach a Level 1 Water Emergency by November, which means it would be 180 days away from its total water supply falling short of demand.
The dashboard projects that Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon, the city’s two western water supplies, could be empty by 2027.
Peter Zanoni, the Corpus Christi city manager, addressed the drop below 10% in Lake Corpus Christi levels at a press conference last week, calling it a “notable milestone.”
However, he said that this drop in level did not trigger an emergency, adding that water remains available from the city’s eastern supplies, including Lake Texana and the Lower Colorado River.
A spokesperson for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Andrew Mahaleris, told the Texas Tribune: “Corpus Christi is an important economic driver not only for Texas but also the nation. The State of Texas has made significant investments into ensuring the Corpus Christi area has the water resources it needs to serve citizens and industry alike.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
