As Corpus Christi prepares for a water emergency that could come by September, the city council on Tuesday weighed a proposal to require residents, businesses and industry to reduce water use by 25%.
City council members will vote next Tuesday on the water curtailment proposal for the city’s water customers. The city’s current water curtailment plan starts with a 5% reduction in water use during a water emergency.
But an ongoing drought that has caused the city’s main reservoirs — Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon Reservoir — to drop to just 8% of their capacity is forcing the city to consider more drastic measures.
City leaders are preparing for the possibility of a stage 1 emergency — the point when the city’s supply is projected to be 180 days away from falling short of demand — happening in September if there’s no significant rainfall and their allotment from Lake Texana, another key reservoir, is curtailed due to the drought.
“The goal is to never get to this point,” Nick Winklemann, chief operating officer of the city’s water department, told the council. “We do not want to ever be in a situation where demand outpaces our supply.”
The average residential customer uses around 7,000 gallons of water a month. A 25% reduction would give households 5,250 gallons per month, which about 30% of residential customers currently surpass, Winklemann said.
Violations of the water limits would be a Class C misdemeanor, subject to a $500 fine. For a second violation, the city could cut off the customer’s water for at least one billing cycle under the proposal — which Mayor Paulette Guajardo called extreme.
“I could never support that, to turn someone’s water off,” she said. Guajardo shared concerns that residents won’t know when they surpass a certain amount of water, especially during summer when kids are spending more time at home.
“How are we going to create a better way to help our residents know, I mean they can’t be calling in every day saying ‘What’s my usage today?’” she said.
The city, which is depending on a patchwork of temporary solutions to meet demand, is under pressure to finalize an emergency plan and find new sources of water. Its water system serves 300,000 residents and local businesses, along with 200,000 others across seven counties.
The drought has coincided with a years-long effort by city leaders to attract refineries and other industry to the Corpus Christi Bay, driving up water demand. Those industrial facilities now consume as much as 60% of the city’s water supply, according to local officials.
The water department’s recommendations include adding surcharges to customers’ water bills if they use more than a set amount. For example, the city’s 91,000 residential customers would have to pay an additional $4 for every 1,000 gallons they use after hitting a 7,000-gallon monthly threshold — which 13% of customers currently surpass. Commercial customers, such as hotels and restaurants, would have to pay the same surcharge after using 55,000 gallons per month.
Some council members on Tuesday asked if the city could consider basing thresholds on customers’ baseline water use, instead of a set limit across the board.
Under the proposal, commercial customers such as hospitals and schools would be able to apply for an exemption if they can show that the water limit risks public health, sanitation, or firefighting. Council members also discussed allowing households with bigger families to request a variance.
Setting water thresholds for apartments is more complex, Winkelmann said, which is why the city plans to look into their water usage patterns and set their standards on a case-by-case basis.
Industrial customers of the city’s water have the option of buying into a drought surcharge exemption fee that City Manager Peter Zanoni has referred to as an “insurance program.” These large-volume users can sign up to add an additional fee to their water bill — 31 cents for every 1,000 gallons — to avoid additional fees during a water crisis.
Eight companies have bought into the program, including Valero, Citgo and Flint Hills Resources. The funds collected from the exemption fee, he said, has generated about $6 million a year for the past eight years, which has been used for water-related development projects.
Industrial customers that don’t pay the exemption fee, according to the water department’s presentation, would have to pay an additional $12 for every 1,000 gallons used after 12,842,000 gallons.
Under a stage 1 emergency, residents would also be prohibited from using water to wash vehicles, boats and trailers.
“I vehemently disagree with not being able to wash boats,” Guajardo said, noting that the city hosted dozens of fishing tournaments last year. “We’re a coastal community.”
They would also not be allowed to water landscaped areas, only potted plants. Pools, jacuzzis and hot tubs would not be allowed to be filled or refilled “except to maintain structural integrity,” according to the presentation.
The city is also planning on reducing operating hours of city pools and splash pads, which council member Eric Cantu said is “the wrong direction to take.”
“We have an issue here in Corpus Christi with gun violence with children, and I think we need to keep our children at safe places,” Cantu said. “I think that’s just out of line. It’s not the family’s fault. It’s not the resident’s fault that we’re in this situation.”
Council member Carolyn Vaughn disagreed.
“It’s not going to be pretty, what we’re going to have to do, we don’t want to do it but everybody’s going to have to make sacrifices,” she said.
Splash pads require around 300 gallons a day and the city’s pools use up around 1.8 million gallons throughout the summer, according to city officials.
The city will be hosting monthly information sessions for community members until September. The first session is scheduled for May 11.
The city recently sold all of its stock of rain barrels, which residents can purchase for $47 to collect rainwater, and is expecting a delivery of 500 more barrels by next week.
Alejandra Martinez contributed to this article.
