We lucked out and received some desperately needed rain this Easter weekend on North Padre Island. Felt good to slow down and just breath! However, it’s Monday and time to address some pressing issues. The core problem is a five-year drought that has hammered the reservoirs. Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon Reservoir are at just over 9% and below 8% capacity respectively — Choke Canyon fell from 47% to under 11% in just four years. The Texas Observer More than 317,000 residents depend on the city’s water system, and projections had the main reservoirs potentially running dry by May. The Texas Tribune
The good news from late March: the state approved the city to keep pulling roughly 40 million gallons a day from Lake Texana even if it drops below 50% capacity — a threshold that normally triggers automatic cuts. The city also secured a TCEQ permit to pump from four groundwater wells in Nueces County. The Texas Tribune City Manager Peter Zanoni said those two developments push the earliest possible water emergency back to at least July.
There have been some local pushbacks too — rural Nueces County residents say the groundwater pumping is dropping their private well levels and raising river salinity. The Texas Tribune
What’s Next at City Council — April 10th Emergency Meeting at 9 am (UPDATED)
This is the big one. Mayor Paulette Guajardo called an emergency April 9 meeting to reconsider the Inner Harbor desalination plant The Texas Tribune — which is literally this week. The backdrop is politically messy: Gov. Greg Abbott publicly accused the city of “squandering” more than $750 million in low-interest state loans and suggested the state might need to take over and micromanage the city. CNN
The council already voted 5-3 in February to advance a new contract with Corpus Christi Desal Partners (Acciona Agua and MasTec) for the Inner Harbor plant. The revised price came in at $978.7 million, significantly lower than the $1.3 billion Kiewit quote that caused the council to kill the project last September. KristV The full design-build contract is what’s expected to come up for a vote in April. City of Corpus Christi
Separately, the council voted 7-1 on March 24 to begin negotiations to purchase water from a private desalination plant owned by Corpus Christi Polymers — a plastic manufacturer whose plant under construction could supply around 9 million gallons a day, though it would take a year after contract signing to come online. The Texas Tribune
There’s also political drama worth watching: three council members requested putting Mayor Guajardo’s removal from office on the agenda for the March 24 meeting KSAT, so tensions on the dais are running high going into session this week.
North Padre Island Updates
Sea turtle nesting patrols kicked off April 1 along North Padre Island and run through October 1, covering beaches from the South Packery Channel Jetty to the Padre Island National Seashore boundary. Nueces County Coastal Parks says this is the second year of active monitoring, with a focus on the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle. Last year saw record nesting numbers, and with Bob Hall Pier having reopened, beach traffic has increased — making the patrols especially important this season. KIII TV
On the events front, the TAMU-CC Islander Women’s Beach Volleyball team hosted the Islander Classic at The Water’s Edge on April 3–4 just this past weekend. Looking ahead, the Beach to Bay Relay Marathon is set for May 16 starting on North Padre Island.
The April 10th (updated) council meeting is the main thing to watch — that Inner Harbor desalination vote could be a turning point for the whole situation.
SIDEBAR: Mayor Guajardo & the Removal Fight
- Guajardo has been in office since 2021. The Texas Tribune
- A citizen petition seeking her removal was originally filed by Rachel Caballero on August 29, 2025. KristV
- The allegations stem from a hotel development project — specifically that she placed an item on the council agenda to award $2 million in tax incentives to a developer seeking to build a Homewood Suites, and that a PowerPoint used during the presentation included a FEMA flood map that had been altered. The Texas Tribune
- Guajardo voted in favor of the tax incentives. She has said the allegations are without merit. The Corpus Christi Police Department investigated and chose not to pursue a criminal case. The Texas Tribune
- Council members Carolyn Vaughn, Gil Hernandez, and Eric Cantu formally requested the removal item be added to the March 24 agenda — notably one day after Gov. Abbott publicly chastised city leaders over the water crisis. KristV
- On March 24, the council voted 5-3 to advance the removal process. Vaughn, Cantu, Hernandez, Kaylynn Paxson, and Sylvia Campos voted yes; Roland Barrera, Everett Roy, and Mark Scott voted no. KIII TV
- Council member Mark Scott, who voted against it, noted the city had already spent roughly $400,000–$500,000 investigating the matter and found nothing actionable, and argued the council should be focused on the water crisis instead. KIII TV
- The next step is an April 14 meeting where the council will set procedures for a formal removal hearing. Council members will serve as judge and jury, and a majority vote would be required to oust her. The full process is expected to take around two months. The Texas Tribune
- Guajardo responded defiantly: “I’m gonna remain steady. I’m gonna keep my attention where it belongs, and I’m gonna continue delivering results for the people of Corpus Christi.” KIII TV
- Worth noting: the removal push and the water crisis are running on parallel tracks simultaneously — with Guajardo herself having called tomorrow’s emergency April 9 desalination vote.
