Corpus Christi sets drought baselines, races to bring new water infrastructure online by late 2026

Corpus Christi sets drought baselines, races to bring new water infrastructure online by late 2026Facing a projected Level 1 water emergency by September, Corpus Christi Water is establishing individual commercial baselines while expediting groundwater conveyance and effluent reuse projects to secure its shrinking supply.

The city projects hitting a Level 1 water emergency—defined as 180 days from supply failing to meet demand—by September 2026.

A new conveyance line from the Western Well Field to the Owen Stevens plant is slated for December 2026, delivering 24 MGD and bypassing a 7% river carriage loss.

Residential baselines will be fixed at 7,000 gallons per month, while commercial and multifamily baselines will be calculated using 2021–2023 historical usage data.

The Evangeline groundwater well field project is targeting a November delivery of 4 MGD, pending preliminary hearings in late April.

The City of Corpus Christi is overhauling its demand management strategies and accelerating water supply projects as it braces for a "Level 1 water emergency" projected for September 2026. During an April 21 council workshop, Nick Winkleman, Chief Operating Officer for Corpus Christi Water, defined the Level 1 emergency as the point when the city is 180 days away from water supply failing to meet demand. The city's updated water dashboard models a 20% curtailment from Lake Texana starting in August 2026 due to declining reservoir capacities. To offset the shrinking surface water supply, the city is heavily banking on new infrastructure. Winkleman highlighted a planned conveyance line from the Western Well Field to the Owen Stevens treatment facility, scheduled to come online in December 2026. This pipeline will deliver 24 million gallons per day (MGD) directly to the plant, avoiding a 7% carriage loss currently experienced in the river and bypassing certain Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) permit limitations. Additionally, the city is advancing the Evangeline well field project. Construction is underway, with pipeline installation slated for early May. If permits are secured following an April 28 preliminary hearing, the project targets delivering 4 MGD by November. Reclaimed effluent reuse projects are also expected to come online by December. On the conservation front, the utility is establishing strict baseline usage metrics to calculate future curtailment allocations. Residential customers, which total approximately 91,000 accounts, will have a fixed baseline of 7,000 gallons per month. Currently, only 13% of residential accounts exceed this volume. For multifamily and commercial accounts, staff determined that using meter size to set baselines was inaccurate due to vast flow variations. Instead, baselines will be calculated individually using historical usage data from 2021 to 2023—representing normal usage prior to recent drought restrictions—with the lowest monthly values excluded. Despite the severe drought, staff explicitly advised against a moratorium on new water meters. Winkleman noted that residential accounts have only grown 2.4% between 2022 and 2025, representing an average of 529 new accounts annually. City Council is expected to vote on the specific drought curtailment percentages and surcharges at its April 28 business meeting.