Stage 3 Water Restrictions to Begin May 16 in Corpus Christi

[Ilsa]

http://m.caller.com/news/2013/apr/16/stage-3-water-restrictions-scheduled-start-may-16/


CORPUS CHRISTI — Corpus Christi water officials plan to trigger Stage 3 of the city’s drought contingency plan May 16, about a month ahead of the projected date when the city’s lake levels dip below 30 percent capacity.

Residents and business owners will be limited to landscape watering once every two weeks. The day of the week to water will match each property’s recycling schedule, Water Director Gustavo Gonzalez said.

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The forecast for rain doesn’t look promising with the hottest summer months ahead, Gonzalez said.

Most of the city’s water supply is surface water from Lake Texana, Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon Reservoir, which evaporates at a faster rate during the hottest months of the year. As of Tuesday, the combined lake levels were at 35.1 percent capacity, according to the Nueces River Authority.

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And yet Gov. Doofus is running around the country trying to get more businesses (and people) to move here.

[TexasTowelie]

1. Lake Corpus Christi is down to about 15% full if I recall correctly.

That lake is so low that I believe that the only water there is in the old Nueces River riverbed.

The main water source for the city of Beeville is Lake Corpus Christi and the pumps are malfunctioning because they are drawing in silt. There are also leaks in the pipeline between the pumping station at Swinney Switch and Beeville (about 20 miles). Beeville is looking at spending about $15 million for a new water well and desalination unit since the water is brackish.

Choke Canyon has more water, but only collects water from the Frio River since it is north of Three Rivers before it joins with the Atascosa and Nueces rivers. Meanwhile, the underground water table along all of those rivers is declining due to fracking activity. The plan since Choke Canyon was built in the late 80s was to let Lake Corpus Christi go dry and hold water upstream at Choke Canyon since that lake is deeper and water evaporates due to relatively smaller surface area.

The only way that water system is going to fill is for either a tropical storm or hurricane to come through and dump a couple of feet of rain. The watershed for Lake Corpus Christi is in the George West, while the watershed for Choke Canyon is further to the northwest.

[hollysmom]

2. fracking first, people second.