San Patricio County and the rest of the Coastal Bend who receive their water from the City of Corpus Christi remain in a drought, but Corpus Christi officials say a worst-case scenario has again been pushed back due to recent rains.
During the city’s weekly water briefing on July 27, Corpus Christi Manager Peter Zanoni said recent rains across the region have begun to make inflows and fill up area reservoirs. Choke Canyon has already seen significant inflows, he said, while Lake Corpus Christi was tentatively supposed to see inflows beginning the weekend of Aug. 1.
When monthly updates began regarding potential Level 1 declarations, Zanoni said the projected date for such a call was September of 2026. In the several months since, he said the potential date has been pushed back to September of 2028.
“The rains have benefited us from inflow into our watersheds,” Zanoni said.
During a Level 1 Water Emergency, curtailment percentage is 25%. Each customer’s water allocation equals their baseline, reduced by the curtailment percentage. The San Patricio County Municipal Water District, which serves area municipalities such as Portland, Taft, Ingleside, Aransas Pass, Odem, Mathis, and more, gets its water from the city of Corpus Christi.
Lake Corpus Christi was at 32.4% full as of July 29, according to Water Data for Texas. And though the mark is lower than it was a month ago, it was well up from 8.7% three months ago, 11.1% full six months ago, and 19.6% full a year ago.
Zanoni said the city continues to seek out avenues of addressing the water crisis in a way which benefits all who receive water from the city.
“This is really, really good news for the community, and it allows us to bring on our water supply projects without having the stress of a Level 1 water emergency,” he said.