Coastal Bend leaders seek temporary pause on required water releases

Corpus Christi and regional partners are preparing to ask the TCEQ to temporarily pause required water releases as reservoir levels continue to rise.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — As recent rainfall continues to boost water levels in the Coastal Bend’s reservoirs, Corpus Christi and its regional partners are preparing to ask state regulators for a temporary pause on required environmental water releases.

City officials say the request would allow more water to remain in Lake Corpus Christi as inflows from recent Hill Country rainfall continue to flow in.

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For the first time in months, the focus has shifted from water shortages to preserving the water flowing into the region’s reservoirs.

“Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon are 27.4% combined capacity,” Nick Winkelmann, Chief Operating Officer of Corpus Christi Water, said.

Winkelmann said additional boosts are expected in the coming days.

“We do expect inflows to continue into Lake Corpus Christi, increase over the weekend and with increased inflows into next week,” Winkelmann said.

Under the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Agreed Order, environmental releases to the Nueces Estuary are required once the combined storage of Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon exceeds 30% capacity.

City officials are seeking a temporary reprieve from that requirement while the reservoirs continue to recover from years of drought.

“The thought process on the temporary reprieve would be either that time period, the 180 days plus a potential extension, or when the western reservoirs exceed 50% combined percentage. So it’d be a matter of whichever comes first,” Winkelmann said.

The request requires support from all parties involved in the Agreed Order, including the City of Corpus Christi, the City of Three Rivers and the Nueces River Authority.

“The City of Three Rivers and the NRA both met with the city of Corpus here in Corpus. We all talked and agreed to take the resolutions and talk to our council and to see if they would support the extension of the temporary close,” Three Rivers City Administrator Thomas Salazar said.

The Nueces River Authority must also approve the request before it can be submitted to the TCEQ.

“I don’t see where that’s unreasonable given the, you know, the current instability of the reservoir system and what we’ve lived through in the last two and a half years of extended drought,” Nueces River Authority Executive Director John Byrum said.

If approved by the three entities, the request would then be submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for consideration. In the meantime, Winkelmann said that Corpus Christi city staff are preparing documents for it.

He added that since it would be a temporary pause, the timing of the request may be just as valuable as the water itself.