“We’re not going to run out of water in a few days,” said Assistant City Manager and Finance Director Robert Aguilar this week.

“There’s a lot of disinformation out there,” he said, commenting on a recent report from a Corpus Christi television station.

Aguilar said he and representatives of the City of Alice have been working with Corpus Christi Assistant City Manager Oscar Martinez on changing Corpus Christi’s plans for controlling the levels of Lake Corpus Christi and the Choke Canyon Reservoir.

“Corpus Christi is looking at leaving the level at 80 feet in Lake Corpus Christi,” Aguilar said. “That’s where we’re hoping it’ll be.”

The Corpus Christi city administration needs the permission of the City Council to maintain that level in Lake Corpus Christi.

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” Aguilar said.

“I think we start having problems at 79 feet,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we don’t get water, even at 78 feet. But we start having problems.” That means treating the water that the city takes from the Nueces River at the headwaters of the lake at the George P. Morrill, I Water Treatment Plant at Swinney Switch will be more difficult.

“Alice is only a foot behind us,” Aguilar said.

Currently lake levels are running at about 82-83 feet, Aguilar confirmed. However, with water levels dropping about a foot every ten days because of evaporation and usage, there is some reason to be concerned. But panic is a long way into the future and weather experts are predicting an El Niño year. That means the year could end wet.

“We’re getting close,” Aguilar admitted, “but Corpus Christi is well aware of our situation and that of Alice.”

“We’re not going to run out of water next week or even next month,” Aguilar said. “We’ve got reason for concern. We’re relying on someone else for our situation. But it looks like we’ll be OK.”

Aguilar said water restrictions do not go into effect until the combined water levels stored in both reservoirs hit 50 percent.

“We haven’t even reached the point where we have to restrict lawn watering,” Aguilar said.

When, and if, the combined water levels reach the 50 percent mark, Aguilar said the city will go into Condition 1 water use restrictions, according to the Water Conservation and Emergency Water Management Plan passed by the City Council on June 23.

Aguilar said Condition 1 means that the city will be required to reduce its raw water consumption by 1 percent.

To accomplish that the city will not allow water to run off yards and into gutters or streets. Also, no person may allow defective plumbing, such as leaky faucets, to go unrepaired. And no water may be allowed to flow constantly through any tap, hydrant or faucet.

Then, if lake levels reach 40 percent, raw water consumption by the city must be reduced by 5 percent.

That will mean that city residents will have to comply with Condition 1 restrictions and also cease irrigation of vegetation between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

When, and if, combined lake levels reach 30 percent the city must restrict its raw water consumption by 10 percent.

That will mean that residents will hawve to limit the irrigation of vegetation to every five wdays and only irrigate between the hours of 6 p.m. and 10 a.m.

When the lakes reach a combined level of 20 percent additional emergency conditions go into effect that include no water for watering foundations, restrictions on the washing of cars, boats and other vehicles, no washing buildings with potable water, restricting the use of fire hydrants to only fire fighting and no use of potable water in ornamental foundations or water falls.

That condition also could affect the irrigation of golf courses and prohibit the addition of new service connections to the city’s water system.

Although that condition also allows other restrictions of water use, most officials believe it is unlikely that the situation will become that bad.

This year’s lack of rain is being called “the 50-year drought” by some, Aguilar believes it is only a matter of time until the situation improves.

Meanwhile, he said people should not panic. Beeville is a long way from being without water. Recent reports in the Corpus Christi media should not be believed.

Aguilar said that obviously somebody is trying to make the situation look much worse than it is.