NUECES COUNTY, Texas —
Corpus Christi is relaxing water restrictions, but the city continues to pump millions of gallons of water each day from a project that was only supposed to be used in an emergency — and those who rely on groundwater are calling for accountability.
Scott Barraza and Chris Cuellar are working to protect a precious resource: Water.
"This has almost been a quest for survival," Barraza said.
Unlike residents who live in the city, landowners like Barraza, Cuellar, and thousands of other rural Nueces County residents rely solely on groundwater pumped from private wells.
That same groundwater has also become a source for Corpus Christi through what is known as the Nueces Groundwater Project. The city operates around 15 wells — with more being drilled — pumping millions of gallons a day from the ground.
The project was approved as Corpus Christi's drought worsened, with the intention that groundwater would serve as a safeguard against a worst-case scenario.
"We were always told the wells were temporary in nature but the pumping has continued and it's not only continued it's increased," Barraza said.
As the city's main water sources rise and Corpus Christi relaxes water restrictions, the issue was raised at City Council.
"Why when we have water, we said we were going to stop it (Nueces Groundwater Project) when we had the water that we would only use it in emergency," Corpus Christi City Council member Carolyn Vaughn said.
Corpus Christi Water's Nick Winkelmann said the city will decrease groundwater pumping by about a third because of the improved water situation.
"We're anticipating an average daily production of about 8,000,000 gallons a day," Winkelmann said.
But Cuellar and Barraza say that claim is not entirely truthful.
"When you increase the pumping rate the week you make that announcement you basically go back to where you were," Cuellar said.
"They just pulled a labor day sale... raise your price up mark it down," Barraza said.
Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon — the city's main water reservoirs — lose water to evaporation every day. Both groundwater advocates argue that drawing from those lakes is a better choice than drawing from groundwater, because while the lakes can quickly rebound, the aquifer beneath the ground takes more time to replenish.
"The City chooses to continue to draw from a non-evaporative source for emergency to supplement what's being added," Cuellar said.
Cuellar and Barraza are leading the effort to create the Nueces Groundwater Conservation District, a landowner group to advocate for groundwater rights in Nueces County. They say it would be one of the first petition-led groundwater conservation districts in Texas since 2002.
In the meantime, they are asking for written guidelines on groundwater pumping.
"Put some trigger points or guardrails on the water pumping right now. With the lakes rebounding we were told its temporary and it's not. We need to get something in writing to ensure accountability," Barraza said.
While Corpus Christi residents welcome a return to weekly lawn watering, groundwater-dependent residents fear the city is not being a responsible steward of their water source.
"I don't see them looking beyond groundwater. And groundwater is a finite source," Cuellar said.
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