After teetering on the edge of Stage 2 drought for months, it may be here in days

Corpus Christi will likely enter Stage 2 drought within less than a week, according to city officials.

As of Wednesday morning, the two primary surface water sources that supply the region – Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon Reservoir – stood at about 30.2%, city data shows.

Stage 1 drought is in effect when the two reservoirs drop to a combined capacity of 40%, while Stage 2 drought is declared when the combined capacity drops below 30%.

There is a 25% chance of rain Friday predicted to bring about .02 inches to the watershed, wrote City Manager Peter Zanoni in a memo.

To benefit the city’s water supply, rain must fall in the watershed – not within the city itself.

“That is the only rain forecasted for the next seven days,” Zanoni wrote. “It is almost certain then that we will be triggering Stage 2 water restrictions in the coming days.”

Although a two-week projection indicates the potential for above-normal chances of rain, the three- and four-week outlooks show “equal chances for above- or below-normal patterns of rainfall and the three-month forecast shows a below normal trend,” he wrote.

The city has experienced Stage 1 drought since June 2022 and has been teetering on the edge of entering Stage 2 drought for several months.

Stage 1 drought restrictions call for limiting landscape irrigation with an irrigation system or sprinklers to only one day every week. That is reduced under Stage 2 drought restriction to permitting landscape irrigation with an irrigation system or sprinklers to only one day every other week.

More: Desalination plant funding has initial approval. Here's what it means.

More: Here's how many tickets the city issued for drought restriction violations

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Corpus Christi likely enter Stage 2 drought within days