CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Flour Bluff resident recently received a $500 citation for watering her yard during Stage 3 drought restrictions, despite having a water well sign displayed on her property. Corpus Christi Water says this was due to the fact that the well was not registered with the city.
Dorothy Holmes was cited on May 5 for violating water restrictions, even though she has used her own well water to maintain her yard for over 20 years.
"Apparently they came by my house and saw that I was watering my yard. I have a well water in use sign and they still wrote me a citation," Holmes said.
Holmes, who has lived in Flour Bluff for decades, was confused by the citation since her well has been registered with the state since 2002.
"I've had my well since 2002 and I don't understand... it's registered through the state so why they're having a problem," Holmes said.
The citation posed a financial burden for Holmes.
"I'm on Social Security, so I don't have $500. And I paid a lot of money for the well for the purpose of keeping my yard up and nice," Holmes said.
After investigating the issue, KRIS6 News discovered that well owners must register their wells with both the state and the city of Corpus Christi to avoid citations during drought restrictions.
Esteban Ramos, Corpus Christi's Water Resource Manager, explained that proper registration is essential.
"One of those is to make sure that they have been identified and they've been registered with the district and with the city," Ramos said.
The city provides free online registration for well owners and issues official signs that must be displayed.
"You cannot make your own wooden picket sign... we'll give you a certificate and that's the sign that you promote... so that our investigators or enforcement people can see," Ramos said.
In Holmes' case, her citation was waived after she properly registered her well with the city and received an official sign.
Corpus Christi Water says they plan to improve communication about the proper well registration process and its importance.
This story was reported 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.
For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
Catch all the KRIS 6 News stories and more on our YouTube page. Subscribe today!
