The Rockport City Council will consider a resolution supporting the San Patricio Municipal Water District’s request for Corpus Christi to revise its proposed water emergency allocation formula during its regular meeting on May 12.

Officials with the water district and the City of Rockport say the proposed allocation formula could allow Corpus Christi residents to use more water than customers outside city limits, including Rockport residents served through SPMWD, creating unequal restrictions for residential customers.

The City of Rockport purchases its water through SPMWD, who buys water from Corpus Christi Water or CCW, operated by the City of Corpus Christi.

An agenda memo included in the city council’s meeting packet stated that because a Level One Water Emergency could occur as early as September 2026, CCW has proposed the Corpus Christi City Council enact provisions for curtailing water usage. A water emergency would be declared when projections show the water supply could fall below customer demand within six months.

The provisions would create penalties for usage greater than the established allocations. CCW created baseline usage figures based on average consumption over a five-year period for different customer classes, the memo stated.

CCW has recommended an across-the-board 25% curtailment, and the reductions approved by the City of Corpus Christi passed along to its direct customers, including SPMWD.

The Corpus Christi City Council tabled a vote on water use baselines during an April 28 meeting, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported, as another vote is possibly expected on May 12.

The memo stated that “while it appears from the data that the average for Corpus Christi residential users is approximately 5,015 gallons per month, CCW has set 7,000 per month as the baseline for its approximately 91,000 residential customers.” Using the 7,000-gallon baseline, a 25% curtailment is 5,250 gallons a month.

The City of Rockport’s average residential consumption is 4,914 gallons a month, and with a 25% reduction, the curtailment allocation would be 3,685 gallons a month.

“The concern is that CCW’s proposed methodology may allow Corpus Christi residential customers a higher effective monthly allocation than residential customers served through SPMWD, resulting in inequitable treatment of similarly situated customer classes,” the memo stated.

In a letter sent by SPMWD General Manager Brian Williams to Corpus Christi City Manager Peter Zanoni, Williams stated, “We have concerns that the ordinance revision currently under consideration on April 28, 2026, will not provide baseline volumes sufficient enough to ensure fairness and consistency.”

The letter requested the City of Corpus Christi adopt the allocation of 7,000 gallons a month baseline for residential customers, a proportional reduction for commercial customers that is consistent with Corpus Christi’s formula, and the same season large-volume user methodology for large volume users served by CCW.

The letter stated, under the proposed formula, the SPMWD would be allowed around 40.3 million gallons of water a day under normal conditions, but that amount would be reduced by 25% during a Level One water emergency to about 30.2 million gallons a day. Of the total baseline allocation, about 10 million gallons a day would come through the treated water contract and about 30.2 million gallons per day through the raw water contract.

“Our goal is to ensure a fair and equitable approach for all communities and customers served,” Williams stated in the letter.

The council will discuss:

– The first reading of an ordinance allowing eligible employees to repurchase previously canceled retirement service credit.

– Considering final approval of amendments to the city’s traffic ordinance related to speed regulations.

– Considering extending the city’s water emergency declaration for an additional 30 days.