City's water dashboard pushed Level 1 emergency to Sept. 2027 after rainfall and new supplies, staff says

Corpus Christi's water managers told the City Council on June 24 that recent rains and a lineup of supply projects have pushed back the city's projected Level 1 water emergency to September 2027.

Nick Winkelmann, chief operating officer at Corpus Christi Water, said the city's combined western reservoir capacity was about 15% as of the meeting and that Lake Corpus Christi was at 31.3% while Choke Canyon was at 8.7%. "The rains have moved it nine months into 2027," Winkelmann said, referring to the Level 1 trigger that the city defines as six months away from supply not meeting demand.

City Manager Peter Zanoni and Winkelmann emphasized the dashboard's conservative inputs: projected stream inflows of 10,438 acre-feet for the remainder of the year, assumed curtailments managed by the Lavaca-Navidad River Authority and demand offsets from wastewater effluent reuse beginning in December 2026. Winkelmann described operating shifts for the Mary Rhodes pipeline to allow pump-station upgrades and confirmed the model will be updated about every 30 days.

Council members pressed staff for specifics. Councilman Cantu noted that Choke Canyon's 8.7% level seemed low despite inflows; Winkelmann explained that the reservoir is much larger than Lake Corpus Christi and that reservoir percentages remain low until Choke Canyon gains substantially. Councilman Scott and others pressed staff for the data behind the conservative 10,438-acre-feet assumption; staff said that number reflects worst-case recent patterns from 2024 and 2025 and is updated monthly.

Council and staff discussed wastewater reuse contracts with industry as a major near-term offset. Zanoni and Winkelmann said Valero and Flint Hills have reuse contracts in place: Valero has a phase-one purchase of reclaimed water that could reach 3 million gallons a day and ultimately up to 8 million gpd, while Flint Hills has an initial phase of about 1 mgd with potential to expand. Those reuse volumes depend on the completion of a new conveyance line that will move effluent from the Oso/Pearl-area plants to Greenwood and other distribution points. Zanoni said the city will present design and construction details for the conveyance line and related guaranteed maximum price to the council in coming weeks.

Winkelmann also reported progress on western-wellfield projects: installed piping for the Evangeline conveyance line is largely on site; Nueces County groundwater production has been temporarily scaled back this month while river elevations are high; and the city plans to submit drilling-permit applications to the Corpus Christi Aquifer Storage and Recovery Conservation District. He emphasized the city is not seeking an increase in permitted production but additional well sites to spread existing permitted yield.

On desalination, staff said the city is pursuing multiple tracks: a potential inner-harbor plant (temporary timeline adjustments were requested) and discussions with third-party operators (AquaTech and others) for smaller or modular facilities that could deliver several million gallons per day while the larger regional projects evolve.

What happens next: staff said they will update the water dashboard monthly, continue negotiating reuse contracts and return to council with final pricing and engineering for the Oso-to-Greenwood conveyance and related construction approvals. The council asked staff for additional visualizations of the dashboard (showing reuse as supply as well as demand offsets), and for more public-facing clarity about reservoir numbers and assumptions.

This briefing followed an extended public-comment period in which residents raised groundwater and wellfield concerns; council directed staff to continue community meetings ahead of upcoming permit hearings.