CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Corpus Christi City Council was briefed Tuesday on Stage 1 Drought Restrictions.
Both city manager Peter Zanoni and Chief Operating Officer of C.C. Water Michael Murphy, painted a grim picture of where the city is at.
Current combined lake levels of 42.9 percent is 10 percent lower than this time last year.
According to a briefing from the National Weather Service, the next several months through April are look to be hotter and drier.
While current drought maps show Corpus Christi is not in drought conditions, the same cannot be said for the watershed and recharge zone.
Those areas are in severe to extreme drought conditions.
Zanoni and Murphy said Tuesday's rains will only provide a short term benefit.
Long term benefits, they said, will only come when drought conditions improve in our watershed and recharge zone.
For now, Corpus Christi water customers will remain under Stage 1 water restrictions.
In the future, those restrictions may start sooner.
Murphy said a revision of the city's drought contingency plan is underway.
Specifically they are working on changes to trigger points for when the plan goes into effect.
They will get a briefing on those proposed changes at the next city council meeting.
There will also be a presentation on the water conservation 365 program that was developed in October.
That program is about educating the public and encouraging residents to practice water conservation 365 days a year.
As for the proposed drought contingency plan revisions, those are expected to come up for a vote in February.
