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City leaders update community on drought contingency plan

Drought restrictions still in play
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  • City leaders update community on possibly reaching stage two drought action plan
  • Currently, the city of Corpus Christi's lake levels are just below 32%

During Tuesday's city council meeting, Corpus Christi Water's Interim Chief Operating Officer, Drew Molly, updated council members and the community on whether or not the city will have to kick in stage two of its drought contingency plan.

The city has been under water restrictions since June 14, 2022.

Molly, along with other city officials, urged residents to find better ways to conserve water.

"As we present this update for possibly getting into our stage two plan, the steps we're taking is to show the sense of urgency that we all have here to develop an affordable drought proof water supply that provides high quality drinking water to our region," Molly said.

We have not seen many rainy days this year. The most rain we've received for our reservoirs was less than a foot on Aug. 22, which was when Tropical Storm Harold hit.

“So simply put, rain is not falling in the right places to fill these reservoirs and consequently our Nueces River Water Supply System is in drought," Molly said.

Molly also added that December, January and February are the region's driest months.

If all of the city's lake levels drop below 30% of combined capacity, it won't look good. The Texas Water Development Board estimates that landscape watering accounts for about a third of municipal water use on a year-round basis. As a result, the city plans to crack down on landscape watering. Molly suggests that people limit landscape watering to one every other week, rather than once every week.

At this point, the city is in a wait-and-see period, which means residents will have to just 'wait and see' whether or not our lake levels drop below the suggested 30% capacity.

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