Hope they make good use of it.
Corpus Christi got “tremendous” news Monday when the city’s projected water emergency was delayed until fall 2028 — a year later than previously anticipated — as floodwater from recent intense storms continues flowing into some of the region’s reservoirs.
Water heading downstream from hard-hit areas of Texas is expected to continue arriving in area reservoirs, potentially easing water-use restrictions for city residents and giving Corpus Christi added time and breathing room to strengthen its water system.
“This is really, really good news for the community, and it gives us time to bring on our water supply projects without the stress of heading into a Level 1 water emergency,” City Manager Peter Zanoni said at a morning water briefing.
Corpus Christi, Texas’ eighth-largest city, has been racing to avoid a water emergency in which demand outpaces available water supplies. For months the city has been under pressure to find new sources of water for 500,000 people served across seven counties, along with one of the nation’s largest petrochemical corridors and the Port of Corpus Christi, the country’s top port for crude oil exports. Officials have asked residents and businesses to cut their water use.
Earlier this year, city projections showed that “day zero” — the point when water demand is projected to be six months from exceeding supply — could arrive as early as May, triggering a Level 1 emergency declaration.
Spring rains pushed that estimate back to September 2027, but not before drawing statewide and national attention as the city appeared to be the first major U.S. city on track to run short of water.
The new Level 1 water emergency date is forecasted to be September 2028.
[…]
Five years of drought had depleted the city’s two main reservoirs: Choke Canyon, fed by the Frio River, and Lake Corpus Christi, fed by the Nueces River. The capacity of Choke Canyon is three times that of Lake Corpus Christi.
As of Monday, the biggest gain from floodwater has been at Choke Canyon Reservoir, the city’s largest water resource. The lake climbed in the past week from 7.9% of capacity to 24%. The reservoir was last consistently full in the early 2000s and has been below 50% full since 2013.
The combined level of Choke Canyon and Lake Corpus Christi is 26.2%, Zanoni said. The city is currently in Stage 3 drought restrictions, which bars outdoor irrigation. City modelers show the lakes could get to 30% combined capacity by this weekend, which would allow the city to move to Stage 2 restrictions, allowing residents to water the lawns and irrigate once every other week.
See here for some background. This is a reminder that “better” does not need to mean “good”. In this case, it just means “not as immediately catastrophic”. I would politely suggest that regardless of what level those lakes get to, Corpus keep those Stage 3 restrictions in place. That, and putting some real restrictions on the industrial water users might enable them to stay away from “catastrophic” long enough to see if any of those desalinization plans might work. Or something else, I don’t know. Just don’t piss this opportunity away, that’s all I’m saying.