Nueces County’s boating community urges city officials to reconsider water limits tied to a drought plan, fearing impacts on tourism and local livelihoods.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Boat community members gathered for a meeting with city officials to voice concerns over water limits tied to the drought contingency plan.

In Nueces County, there are about 8,000 registered boats, and nearly 40 fishing tournaments brought in tens of millions of dollars last year. Now, the boating community says it is fighting for reasonable water limits that will not hurt the industry.

Joey Farrah has been a fishing guide for 30 years and says these limits could not only impact boaters but also the community.

“I think if we put restrictions on the use of water for boating and fishing boats and things like that, the tourism would suffer greatly, especially in a crucial time now as our summer months,” Farrah said.

Farrah said water is important for boat maintenance.

“So I’ve seen a lot of ups and downs, but water issues have plagued this throughout. And those who don’t use water to take care of their boats and their boating areas have seen their investments go down very quickly,” Farrah said.

For boaters like Alan Schultz, boats are his livelihood.

“I generate between $50,000 and $100,000 of revenue a year for my family running guide service, and that’s a crucial part of our family budget. The water is very important, and if we can’t use water, we’re not going to run our boats,” Schultz said.

Boats must be rinsed off after they are used. Marker 37 owner Brad Kaylor said if this is not done, the consequences can be costly.

“If you do not flush your engine, you will ruin an engine, and engines can be anywhere from $20,000 to $60,000, depending on what kind you run,” Kaylor said.

Corpus Christi Mayor Paulette Guajardo said the city is working to rewrite the policy in a way that better supports the boating community.

“It sounds to me like this industry might need its own classification. So you have residential, you have industry. We’re looking at doing a car wash classification. We might need boat owners or a boat classification,” Guajardo said.

With possible restrictions on the table, the boating community is asking city officials to reconsider.

“If you don’t maintain the boat, you’re going to destroy a very valuable piece of equipment. Boaters have to be allowed to wash their boats and flush their engines. It’s imperative,” Kaylor said.

There will be another boating community meeting later this month.