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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 The city of Corpus Christi is facing a new setback in its fight to avoid a water emergency. A key part of its water plan \u2014 pumping groundwater from wells in Nueces County \u2014 is not producing as much water as city leaders said it would just one week ago.<\/p>\n
City Manager Peter Zanoni said Thursday that updated projections will be shared with City Council at a workshop Tuesday, April 22, at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n
One week ago, on April 9, Zanoni told reporters the city felt good about its western well field \u2014 a newer set of wells drilled to pump groundwater into the Nueces River as an emergency water source.<\/p>\n
The city has two well fields in Nueces County. The eastern well field came online first. It has 8 wells and is permitted to produce up to 10 million gallons per day. But its water has a higher salt content, and state monitoring rules have limited it to about 4 million gallons per day.<\/p>\n
The western well field is newer, with 6 wells. Its water has roughly half the salt content of the eastern field. That is why city leaders were more confident it could pump at or near full capacity. Zanoni projected the western field and the neighboring Ed Rachal Foundation property could together deliver 26 million gallons per day into the river<\/a>.<\/p>\n “We feel pretty confident today \u2014 with four wells running at about 10 million gallons, there is no issue on the water quality management plan…” Zanoni said April 9. “The western, we’re seeing pretty decent results right now.”<\/p>\n That projection was consistent with what Zanoni said publicly when the western wells first began flowing in late March<\/a>, when he said: “Over the next couple of weeks and into June, we’ll have a total of 26 million gallons of water” from the western field.<\/p>\n ______________________________________<\/p>\nWATCH THURSDAY’S WATER SUPPLY INITIATIVE BRIEFING<\/h3>\n