CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — In the last 10 days, parts of South Texas have seen heavy rain — particularly near Victoria, where more than 10 inches helped replenish Lake Texana. Corpus Christi also received significant rainfall, but the most crucial areas missed out.
“Since we’re not seeing any in the watershed, it’s a lot of missed opportunities — with heavy rainfall that fell instead in Baffin Bay,” said KRIS 6 meteorologist Stephanie Lauber. The watershed that feeds Choke Canyon Reservoir and Lake Corpus Christi is located northwest of the city — in areas like Atascosa County and Calliham. Without rainfall there, local lakes continue to struggle.
To buy time, the city is increasing the amount of water it draws from Lake Texana via the Mary Rhodes Pipeline — boosting the intake from 55 million gallons per day to 70 million.
“That gives us the ability to use less water from Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon, and let them rest — let them take some of that beneficial rainfall and hold onto it,” said Esteban Ramos with Corpus Christi Water. Letting the western lakes rest helps preserve limited resources. But without rainfall in the watershed, recovery remains slow.
“I want my western supplies to bounce back — and it’s location, location, location... just like buying a house,” Ramos said. And even with some areas getting rain, the long-running drought still casts a shadow.
“We need water in the reservoirs, but we’ve been in a drought for so long — it’s going to take time,” Lauber said.
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