San Patricio water official warns Aransas Pass council of ‘drought of record,’ outlines desalination and brackish-well options

Brian Williams, general manager of the San Patricio Municipal Water District, told the Aransas Pass City Council on Nov. 11 that the region is experiencing a "drought of record" and that reservoir and supply projections show the system could reach emergency shortage levels in late 2026 if dry conditions persist.

Williams said the district currently receives roughly 40,000,000 gallons per day from the City of Corpus Christi — about 27,000,000 gallons of raw water and 13,000,000 gallons of treated water — under long-term contracts (a treated-water contract that runs through 2043, and a raw-water contract the district described as in perpetuity). He said about 30% of the district’s sales are municipal and about 70% are industrial.

"We are a water system that is based on surface water. And if there's no rain, there's no surface water," Williams told council members, summarizing the district’s limits under prolonged dry conditions. He warned that continued declines in western storage — including Choke Canyon Reservoir and Lake Corpus Christi — have reduced the region’s reliable firm yield and will force planners to re-evaluate how much the system can sustainably deliver each year.

When asked what happens under a worst-case drought, Williams cited the Texas Water Code process for shortage allocations and said reductions are handled pro rata so "everybody shares that reduction." (Williams referenced what he recalled as Texas Water Code section 11.039.)

Council members pressed on practical impacts. One council member said, "We're playing Russian roulette with our water supply," and asked whether heavy industrial customers could be required to scale back to conserve municipal supply. Williams said industry is aware of the risk and that some industrial facilities could be forced to idle units, but he cautioned that cuts alone may not offset losses because evaporation and reservoir geometry reduce the effectiveness of consumption reductions.

Williams outlined near- and medium-term measures the district and regional partners are pursuing: increased deliveries from the Mary Rose pipeline and eastern lakes; potential development of brackish wells between Gregory and Ingleside with reverse-osmosis treatment to supply industry while preserving freshwater for residents; and continued study of desalination projects (including the paused Inner Harbor desalination effort and the La Quinta desalination proposal). On salinity concerns, Williams said modeling indicates the incremental change from proposed desalination discharge would be small compared with natural salinity variability in Corpus Christi Bay.

Williams repeatedly said the one factor that would most quickly restore surface supplies is increased rainfall. "The only thing that will get us out of this drought is more rain," he said.

The presentation produced requests for additional technical reports (for example, comparative data from other bays and desalination case studies) and Williams offered to follow up with materials. The council did not take formal action on water policy or declare changes to the city’s drought stage during the meeting.

Next steps described by Williams and staff include monitoring Corpus Christi’s regional decisions about declaring higher drought stages (stage 4) and the city’s own timing for specific cutback percentages, continuing feasibility work on brackish wells and desalination options, and public follow-up with the technical modeling used in permit applications.