CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas —

For the first time since March 11, 2024, Corpus Christi will move to Stage 1 water restrictions beginning Thursday morning.

City Manager Peter Zanoni alluded to the announcement at Tuesday’s meeting. This comes after the city surpassed 40% of water capacity — the threshold required to relax restrictions.

Corpus Christi moving to Stage 1 water restrictions on Thursday for first time in more than 2 years

The most significant change under Stage 1: residents with automatic lawn irrigation systems may now water every week instead of every other week.

The shift comes after more than 2 years of declining lake levels during what officials have described as a “drought of record” — a period that brought Corpus Christi national attention and kept residents under the threat of a water emergency.

During that time, residents made significant changes to reduce water use. Some have gotten rid of appliances like dishwashers. Others use buckets to retain water while the shower warms up.

Residents accounted for less than 20% of total water use of Corpus Christi Water customers last year — yet water restrictions have primarily targeted homeowners and long-term residents.

City Council District 2 representative Eric Cantu advocated for the move to Stage 1 at last week’s council meeting.

“This is some relief for the residents because they’ve done a lot for this community in the past year,” Cantu said.

Cantu also noted that city policy prevents a return to Stage 2 restrictions unless water capacity drops below 30%.

“Our own policy says once we go to Stage 1 we don’t go back to Stage 2 until under 30%,” Cantu said.

The city projects it will not need to return to Stage 2 restrictions until at least April or May of next year.

For residents without a lawn, the change may not have an immediate impact — but it marks another step forward for a city that has spent more than 2 years managing one of its most serious water crises.

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