City leaders across the Coastal Bend are working together to address severe drought conditions that have pushed some communities to the brink of water crisis.
Officials from Corpus Christi, Alice, Beeville and Mathis met near the Wesley Seale Dam on Monday, Oct. 20, to discuss water options and how neighboring cities could help each other during this critical time.
Beeville has been hit particularly hard by the drought. Earlier this month, the city moved into Stage 4 water restrictions and declared a state of emergency.
"It's critical. You know - we're at the last and final stage of our stage 4 of our drought contingency plan," Daniel Dorgan said.
Dorgan, Beeville's interim city manager, explained the severity of the situation at their water intake structure.
"At our water intake structure, we have roughly four and a half feet above our lowest intake structure left," Dorgan said.
The dire circumstances have prompted city leaders to consider all available options, including emergency assistance from neighboring communities.
"There's no situation that's off the table at the moment, you know. There's ideas following. And so, one of the ideas was the City of Alice, somehow, pump water to the City of Beeville in the event we do go into our complete water loss," Dorgan said.
Beeville has identified two water wells they are looking to bring back online in hopes of increasing their water supply. City leaders are also exploring other financially viable plans, including learning from Alice's brackish desalination plant.
Alice City Manager Michael Esparza said sharing knowledge and resources could benefit all communities facing similar challenges.
"Spreading the ideas around and what we've done and how we're doing it may help some of the other cities our size too. And not have to go through so much work to figure it out," Esparza said.
While Alice has a secondary water source, Esparza noted they still have water concerns, making regional collaboration essential.
Corpus Christi City Manager Peter Zanoni emphasized the importance of developing long-term solutions and providing mutual support.
"We're here to talk to them about water. We want to better understand their current situation especially up here when it comes to Lake Corpus Christi and water levels. And more importantly, we want to make sure we're providing them with as much help that we can," Zanoni said.
City leaders got a firsthand look at the low water levels at Lake Corpus Christi during their meeting. Zanoni said these collaborative discussions are crucial to keep communities informed and ensure officials are prepared for any scenario.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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