Oh Well!! Corpus Christi Recruited Major Industries; Now Their Demands Are Making Drought Worse

[TexasTowelie]

2. I was raised between Lake Corpus Christi (further downstream) and Choke Canyon

which is upstream on the Frio River, a tributary to the Nueces River.

One of the critical mistakes made was the placement of Choke Canyon on the Frio River rather than further southeast so that water from the Nueces River and Atascosa River could also be collected. This was because the land to the southeast was farmland and more productive than the ranchland further west. There were also some historical concerns,

Choke Canyon reservoir is rarely above 50%, but since it is deeper it has a lower ratio of surface area/volume than Lake Corpus Christi. To minimize losing water to evaporation they do not release water downstream to flow into Lake Corpus Christi. The result is that Lake Corpus frequently runs only through the old Nueces River bed and boating is dangerous when the occasional storm comes through that stirs up debris.

The city of Corpus Christi does own some artesian wells that can send water down the Atascosa River; however, I doubt that they provide sufficient supply for all of the users. I also doubt that Lake Texana could sustain the area when considering the new industry in the region.