MATHIS, Texas — Lake Corpus Christi is at a historic low of 9.9% capacity, and while a weekend thunderstorm brought some relief to the region, water officials say it barely made a dent in the ongoing drought.
Corpus Christi City Manager Peter Zanoni said restoring the reservoir to previous levels would require a significant amount of rainfall.
"We'd need 20 to 40 inches of rain," Zanoni said.
The weekend storm delivered far less than that at the lake.
"We saw here in the park roughly a little over a quarter inch… at most a third of an inch," Krista Gonzales, assistant park superintendent at Lake Corpus Christi State Park, said.
Despite the low water levels, Lake Corpus Christi remains a popular destination for families, fishermen, and boaters.
"The last few weekends have been really busy and we're really seeing our busy season ramp up. Lots of campers, bird viewing, hiking the trails," Gonzales said.
Fishermen at the lake say that in just 8 months, they have watched the waterline recede dramatically — but they are still finding success on the water. One angler caught 8 fish on Monday morning.
While the weekend storm did little to address drought conditions, park staff said it helped in other ways.
"We did have a lot of people that came out for campfires so it really helped us with our concern for wildfires. The vegetation really needed that. So if we could have those little showers through the spring, that would certainly help the park," Gonzales said.
City officials say they are already planning for a future that does not depend on the reservoir. Zanoni outlined the city's long-term water strategy.
"But when we bring in groundwater and seawater desalination, we don't have to rely on these lakes. And that's the position we need to be in," Zanoni said.
Still, park management remains hopeful that Lake Corpus Christi can recover, pointing to a similar situation more than a decade ago when the lake was at 12.9% of capacity.
"There was a rain event over 10 years ago where I believe it was a tropical storm sat over the lake for a few days and it filled up the lake within a few days. It does keep us pretty hopeful," Gonzales said.
To return to the top of the conservation pool, the lake would need 250,000 acre-feet of water. It currently holds 25,000 acre-feet.
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