1 of 11 gauges has not reported a new reading in over 2 hours. Affected values are marked stale below and may not reflect current conditions.
Corpus Christi water restrictions and drought stage rules
Corpus Christi sets its drought restrictions on combined storage across Choke Canyon Reservoir and Lake Corpus Christi, not on the level of either lake by itself. This page shows the stage that combined storage currently implies, the thresholds that start each stage, and the rule that decides when one ends. The official stage is declared by the City of Corpus Christi.
Current drought stage
Derived from combined storage across Choke Canyon and Lake Corpus Christi.
Stage 3
Critical Shortage
As of Jul 30, 3:00 AM CT (Choke Canyon Reservoir 3:00 AM, Lake Corpus Christi 3:00 AM)
Stage 3 (Critical Shortage). About +25,200 af to reach the 30% clearance level.
Clears only after combined storage stays above 30% for 15 consecutive days. Not yet met.
The stage shown here is tracked by applying the City's initiation and clearance rules, day by day, to the TWDB daily storage history, so it can stay at a more severe stage even after the percentage climbs back over an initiation line. It is not an official declaration.
This is a storage-based estimate. The official drought stage is declared by the City of Corpus Christi.
Where each stage starts and what clears it
Every trigger below is a percentage of combined conservation storage across both reservoirs, not the level of either lake on its own.
| Stage | Starts when storage falls below | Clears after 15 days above |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 3Critical ShortageCurrent stage | 20% | 30% |
| Stage 2Moderate Shortage | 30% | 40% |
| Stage 1Mild Shortage | 40% | 50% |
| WatchWater Shortage Watch | 50% | 50% |
| NormalNo Active Shortage | n/a | n/a |
Why a stage can outlast the number
Drought stages initiate when combined storage falls below one of the threshold lines marked on the storage bar (20, 30, 40, and 50 percent). Clearing a stage takes more than climbing back over the line it started at. Storage must rise above the stage's clearance level, which is 30 percent for Stage 3, 40 percent for Stage 2, and 50 percent for Stage 1 and the Watch, and it must stay there for 15 consecutive days. That gap between the initiation line and the clearance level is deliberate. It keeps a single rainstorm from lifting the restrictions that a long dry spell put in place, and it is the reason the stage on this page can read more severe than today's percentage alone would suggest.
Each clearance step moves down one level at a time. When a stage clears, the count starts over against the next stage's clearance level, so working back to Normal from a deep drought takes several consecutive runs, not one.
Water Emergency levels (Level 1 and Level 2) sit outside this ladder entirely. They are triggered by supply versus demand analysis or by infrastructure and contamination events rather than by a storage percentage, and they are determined by the City Manager. Because they have no storage trigger, they do not appear as bands on the storage gauge.
This page shows where combined storage sits relative to published thresholds. It does not declare the current official drought stage, and it is not a substitute for the City's own notices.
Nueces Estuary freshwater inflow
The same combined storage percentage that drives drought stages also sets the freshwater inflow target for the Nueces Estuary under the TCEQ 2001 Nueces Estuary Agreed Order. As storage falls, the targeted inflow that must be passed downstream steps down with it.
Nueces Estuary inflow: passage of targeted inflows suspended (return flows continue), at storage below 30%, under the TCEQ 2001 Agreed Order.
- ○ 70% and above138,000 af/yr inflow target
- ○ 40% to below 70%97,000 af/yr inflow target
- ○ 30% to below 40%Reduced target of 1,200 af/month
- ● Below 30%Passage of targeted inflows suspended (return flows continue)
Not an official compliance determination.
The Agreed Order matters to reservoir levels because it is one of the demands on the system that does not come from a tap. Water passed for the estuary leaves conservation storage the same way municipal supply does, which is why the tiers are keyed to the same storage percentage the drought stages use.
Storage behind the stage
- Combined storageLive combined storage for Choke Canyon Reservoir and Lake Corpus Christi, the two lakes that supply Corpus Christi. Percent full, current drought stage, and 12 months of history, updated about every 15 minutes.
- Choke CanyonLive Choke Canyon Reservoir water level. Storage in acre-feet, percent full, surface elevation, and recent change, with Frio River flow at Derby and Tilden and the release below the dam.
- Lake Corpus ChristiLive Lake Corpus Christi water level. Storage in acre-feet, percent full, surface elevation, and recent change, with Nueces and Atascosa river flows feeding the lake.