CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Former Corpus Christi Councilman Greg Smith may be enjoying retirement at his RV park in Port Aransas, but he’s still closely watching the region’s water strategy — and he’s not impressed.
Smith is calling out what he says was a costly mistake by the city: delaying the use of water from the Mary Rhodes Pipeline, which was completed in 2016 to bring in up to 32 million gallons of water more per day from Lake Texana.
“They finished the pipeline. They had the water. And they didn’t use it,” Smith said.
Instead of pumping that Texana supply, Smith says the city chose to draw water from Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon Reservoir, contributing to declining levels in both. The reason? He says the city more than likely wanted to save money on electricity — roughly $2 million per year.
“It’s penny wise and pound foolish,” Smith said. “We saved a little bit on power — and we drained our lakes.”
While city officials delayed pumping from the pipeline, Smith estimates about 90,000 acre-feet — or 30 billion gallons — of water sat unused. That water had already been secured and paid for.
The hesitation, he claims, stemmed in part from a pipeline leak in 2022, which may have made city officials nervous about stressing the system.
“The way not to get blamed is don’t pump it hard,” Smith said.
Even with minimal pumping, ratepayers still shouldered the costs through debt tied to dam improvements, he added.
Councilwoman Carolyn Vaughn agrees the delay has had lasting impacts.
“That’s what the city chose to do,” Vaughn said. “They shouldn't have done that. We still pay for that water — so why not use it instead of draining Choke Canyon and the lake?”
In recent months, the city has ramped up water intake from both Lake Texana and the Colorado River.
The Mary Rhodes Pipeline is currently pumping 70 Million Gallons per day (MGD) into Corpus Christi. Smith says it's capable of doing 78 MGD
He adds that the Evangeline Groundwater Project will also contribute significantly. The City Council recently approved a draft agreement valued at $169 million, which will provide up to 24 million gallons per day (MGD) of water.
The City of Corpus Christi has not responded to questions regarding its past water-use decisions.
*This report was originally produced for broadcast by a reporter on the air. AI assistance was used to adapt it for web publication.
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