How much water Corpus Christi residents and other customers could use under a water emergency has been decided, and partially affirmed.
The City Council on May 12 gave the initial nod for setting limits on water usage, required cuts and the penalties for going over water allocations during a water emergency, should one eventually come to pass.
A water emergency is called when the city is projected to be six months from total water supply falling short of demand. Most recent projections put that timeframe in September; however, recent beneficial rains are expected to push the needle back.
Curtailment under a water emergency is set at 25%, according to the council’s vote on the first of two readings of the ordinance.
That percentage would be applied across all customer classes: residential, commercial, industrial and wholesale.
Baselines established by the council are the “starting points” of where the cuts would come from.
For all residential accounts, the baseline will be a blanket 8,000 gallons of water per month, meaning that with curtailment, residents would be allowed an allocation of 6,000 gallons of water per month, the presentation showed.
Applications are available for variances that may be requested based on individual residents’ situations that may require additional water usage per month, officials have said.
Allocations are not uniform across the remaining customer classes, with individual accounts assigned individual limits.
Some of the variables considered include seasonality, officials have said.
Surcharges would be imposed for all customers — including those that have paid a fee to be otherwise exempt from drought surcharges — under a water emergency.
Each 1,000 gallons over the allocation will cost an extra $4, and each 1,000 gallons over the baseline will cost $8, according to city documents.
An updated estimate on when a water emergency may occur is expected next week, staff said May 12.
The emergency water provisions are not yet formalized; a second vote is needed to make the council’s preliminary decision final.
That will likely be brought to the council later this month.
Kirsten Crow covers city government and water news. Have a story idea? Contact her at kirsten.crow@caller.com.
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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Here’s how much water use will be cut under emergency in Corpus Christi
Reporting by Kirsten Crow, Corpus Christi Caller Times / Corpus Christi Caller Times
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