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At 8.5%, Corpus Christi Votes to Cut Refineries' Water
Corpus Christi voted 7-2 Tuesday to require 25% cuts from refineries consuming 60% of city water when a Level 1 emergency is called. Combined storage at the two surface reservoirs stood at 8.5% on May 11; September is the projected trigger.
Corpus Christi's city council voted 7-2 Tuesday to give preliminary approval to mandatory water cuts that would cover the refineries consuming 60% of the city's supply.
The combined capacity of Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon Reservoir stood at 8.5% on May 11. Over 95% of the water for nearly 500,000 people across the Coastal Bend service area comes from those two surface sources. Stage 3 restrictions have been in effect since December 2024.
Valero, Citgo, and Flint Hills Resources are among the direct industrial customers facing a 25% cut from their three-year average. The four largest refineries and petrochemical facilities in the corridor averaged 818.6 million gallons per month from 2022 through 2024. Residential customers used 374 million gallons in April 2026.
City water COO Nick Winkelmann said the utility would "start turning valves and shut the water off" to industrial users who exceed their allocation. A Level 1 emergency, defined as supply within 180 days of exhaustion, is expected by September without significant rainfall.
Under the preliminary ordinance, residential customers would see their monthly baseline set at 8,000 gallons with a 25% emergency reduction to 6,000. Industrial users face surcharges of $4 per 1,000 gallons over allocation and $8 per 1,000 gallons over baseline. Bob Paulison, executive director of the Coastal Bend Industrial Association, said large users have spent months increasing water recycling and would "meet their allocation."
The curtailment ordinance implies a question Texas water law has not answered. Prior appropriation ranks users by claim date; the 1900 Snake River right still drawing today shows how durable those hierarchies run. A flat 25% cut applied uniformly, without regard to claim seniority, has no established legal floor in Texas water code.
The final curtailment vote is May 19. On June 2, the council votes on a contractor for the $978 million desalination plant; the prior Kiewit contract, targeting 2028, was voted out in September 2025. The window from a September emergency to whenever CCDP finishes is the gap Nick Winkelmann's shutoff valve must bridge.