FUTURE WATER SUPPLIES

Garwood Irrigation Company
In 1999, the City concluded the purchase of 35,000 acre-feet per year of water rights in the Colorado River from the Garwood Irrigation Company. These senior water rights are now permitted for transfer and use in the City's service area. This water would be transported to Corpus Christi via a pipeline that will be constructed, at some future date, from the Colorado River, connecting into the Mary Rhodes (Lake Texana) Pipeline at Lake Texana.

Forty percent of the water used to meet the downstream customers comes from Lake Texana through the Mary Rhodes pipeline; and in 1998, the city acquired 35,000 acre-ft of Garwood water rights from the Colorado River. One of the City Council goals is to have the Garwood pipeline project shovel ready in three years. This project can secure our water needs past 2040 while giving us the ability of maintaining higher levels in the reservoirs of the Nueces River Basin.

Notwithstanding, by an Agreed Order dated April, 2001, the City of Corpus Christi is required to pass inflows through the reservoir system for the proper ecological environment and heath of the related marine resources with the bay and estuary system. This was a condition for getting approval to build Choke Canyon Reservoir. The key components of the agreed order are the "pass-through" provision - rather than release from storage, and the drought relief provisions. The Certificate of Adjudication and the Agreed order are available for review. From January through August 2009, only 3,500 acre-feet of water flowed into the reservoir system, and with no required pass through. The last required pass through was in October 2009. Consequently, freshwater inflows to Nueces Bay have also been very low and salinity levels are at record highs.

Heavy rains occurring below the dam at the end of the month contributes to flows over the saltwater barrier dam at Calallen. On occasion when the lake is full, strong northwesterly winds will push water over the crest gates which will raise the stage level of the Nueces River, but there is no way to control or reduce that flow.

For over fifteen years, the Nueces River Authority closely monitors the releases to the Bays and Estuary in an attempt to maximize the amount of water storage for the City of Corpus Christi while making sure that the City is in compliance of the Agreed Order. The release of required water to the Bays and Estuary are held until the last possible date of the month without inundating the residents downstream. The credit from any month is applied to satisfy up to 50 % of the target release for the following month provided that the inflows occur. We have also worked closely with US Geological Survey to maximize the credits that the city receives for the water that passes over the salt water barrier dam at Calallen and to show accurate flows throughout the watershed.

The Web Site that was created to inform the public on daily pass-thru and current reservoir status is http://www.cctexas.com/water/index.cfm.

Finally, City staff has been involved with state legislative group, Coastal Bend Regional Planning Group N and the Nueces Bay and Estuary Advisory Council. The NEAC is charged with assessing the effectiveness of the water management strategies and operating guidelines of the reservoir systems that are contained in the Agreed Order and with recommending changes to the Agreed Order as needed to the Executive Director of the Texas Commission Environmental Quality. Senate Bill 3 created the BBEST program that establishes a stakeholder group that will manage a team of experts to determine what constitutes a health marine ecology in the bays. This group is lead by the Director of the Nueces River Authority and meets quarterly.

Members of the NEAC represent state resource management agencies; local governments; water right permit holders; academic institutions; business coalitions; environmental and conservation groups; wholesale water suppliers; commercial and recreational fishing interests; Lake Corpus Christi/Choke Canyon Reservoir interest; and private citizens.

Desalination 

Frequently Asked Questions about Water Related Issues in Corpus Christi

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