One of the city of Corpus Christi’s two main reservoirs supplying water to the region has hit “a historic low,” according to a city memo.
Dated Dec. 3, the document states that Choke Canyon Reservoir was measured earlier in the day at 10% volume of its full 662,821-acre-feet capacity.
The city is monitoring stream flows, according to officials, and Corpus Christi Water has also “increased its surveillance of the area to ensure that no one is illegally diverting water from the reservoir without proper notification or state permits,” according to the memo.
Lake Corpus Christi, the second of the city’s primary reservoirs, was recorded at 12.7% of its capacity, according to the memo.
Amid crippling drought, the city has increasingly shifted reliance from the two lakes to water sourced from out of the region, directed toward Corpus Christi via the Mary Rhodes Pipeline.
Currently, demand is about 110 million gallons of water per day, wrote City Manager Peter Zanoni in a message to the Caller-Times.
About 65% is being drawn from what are described as the Eastern supplies — the Colorado River and Lake Texana — and about 35% from the Western supplies, which comprise Choke Canyon Reservoir, Lake Corpus Christi and Nueces River ground wells, he wrote.
Stage 3 water restrictions have been in place for almost exactly a year. Stage 3 water restrictions are called when the combined lake capacities drop below 20%.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Choke Canyon has hit a ‘historic low,’ according to a city memo