Some city council members call for shift to Stage 1, city manager says not so fast

While some Corpus Christi city leaders want to move from Stage 2 to Stage 1 drought restrictions, others warn reservoir levels could soon fall again.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — With Corpus Christi’s reservoirs rebounding in recent weeks, some city leaders and residents are asking whether the city can afford to loosen drought restrictions even further.

Some City Council members are calling for a move to Stage 1, just nine days after City Manager Peter Zanoni announced the city would transition from Stage 3 to Stage 2.

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According to Corpus Christi’s drought contingency plan, Stage 2 drought restrictions may be stopped and the city may move to Stage 1 when combined reservoir levels rise above 40%. However, Zanoni said there are other factors to consider, as the city’s combined reservoir levels are currently at about 43%.

Councilwoman Carolyn Vaughn said residents have been asking for more flexibility when it comes to watering their lawns.

“Most of them say, I cannot wait till I can just water my grass when I need to. So I think we need to reward that. They’ve been great about conserving,” Vaughn said.

Vaughn said she supports moving from Stage 2 to Stage 1, even if the transition only lasts for a short time.

One of the biggest differences between the two stages is how often residents can water their lawns.

Under Stage 2, residents can water their lawns once every other week on their assigned day. Under Stage 1, residents would be allowed to water once a week on their trash pickup day.

“Right now it’s every other week. That doesn’t do a whole lot. I mean, if you look at your own lawn, it just doesn’t do a lot,” Vaughn said. “Our plants are dying. It’s just not enough water, so two weeks of that because we have not had any rain that would help us and we don’t have any rain in the forecast. So give us those two weeks to water like we need to.”

Councilman Eric Cantu also said he believes the city should follow the drought contingency plan and move to Stage 1 once reservoir levels are above 40%.

“We have policy. If it’s over 40% combined, then we should be at level one,” Cantu said.

Cantu said he would support making the transition even if it only lasts a few weeks.

“Allow them to do it for a couple weeks you know, let’s water our grass or plants, let’s do what we want to do with our water. It’s our water,” Cantu said. “I was even thinking about putting a memo out for the next council meeting to direct the City Manager to go to stage one.”

While some council members are ready to make the transition, other city leaders are concerned about how long the change would last.

Zanoni said the National Weather Service is forecasting hotter and drier-than-normal conditions for the following months.

“The National Weather Service has told us Monday that we can expect drier than normal conditions and hotter than normal weather patterns for the next three months,” Zanoni said. “Without any more rain, our reservoirs in the West will just continue to decline, so it’s only a matter of weeks before we get down to 40%. So our thought is let’s try to let’s try to protect the water that we have, and go to every other week watering.”

Zanoni also said that an amendment to the city’s drought contingency plan is expected to go before City Council for approval this fall.

Currently, the city gets about 70% of its water from Lake Texana and the Colorado River. Zanoni said those sources are not currently factored into the drought contingency plan.

The proposed changes would account for all of the city’s water sources when determining drought stages.