Dr. Dorina Murgulet with Texas A&M Corpus Christi said long term the recent rain and flash flooding is not going to get us out of water restrictions anytime soon.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — After extreme flooding in Central Texas earlier this month reservoirs like Lake Travis have seen dramatic gains, jumping more than 30 feet in just days. And while cities like Austin may see some relief, will the flooding rains travel far enough south to help Corpus Christi?
There are still a lot of question marks on just how much our area reservoirs could see, but Dr. Dorina Murgulet with Texas A&M Corpus Christi said long term the recent rain and flash flooding is not going to get us out of water restrictions anytime soon.
Floodgates opened at Buchanan Dam near Llano for the first time in six years and Lake Travis rising could lead to Central Texas cities easing drought restrictions but in Corpus Christi, Dr. Dorina Murgulet, a professor of hydrogeology said not so fast.
“The systems are connected somewhat, unfortunately for us, and for those in Central Texas where the flooding happened, that rain did not fall in the Nueces water shed,” said Murgulet.
Murgulet said the Guadalupe River Basin mostly benefited.
3NEWS recently met up with Dr. Murgulet in San Marcos where we learned what happens upstream at the Edwards Aquifer can impact us here at home.
However, “there might be some more sustained flowing in Nueces River over the next few months if the Edwards Aquifer going to be higher but at this point, we are still in that deep drought we have been, it doesn’t look any better for us,” she said.
Our combined western water sources here at home which includes Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon Reservoir remain just over 15 percent.
Murgulet said the flash floods don’t have enough time to recharge the aquifers but can recharge surface reservoirs.
“What we need is very slow trickle of rain, for long periods of time, to get the soils to be moist again and to allow enough water to percolate downwards into the Edwards Aquifers and replenish those resources,” said Murgulet.
A significant rainfall over the last two days is also causing rising waters in the Nueces River near Uvalde and the Frio River.
John Byrum with the Nueces River Authority said they are watching water levels closely.
“The Frio River near Tilden is up about two and a half feet. And with other creeks like Turkey Creek catching water, we could see levels rise at Choke Canyon in the next couple of weeks,” said Byrum.
But Byrum cautions it’s too early to say how much of a difference it will make.
If the drought persists both Byrum and Murgulet said conservation remains critical.
“The rain we got in June gave a lot of hope to our community,” Murgulet said. “It’s not making a big difference, not one that will pull us back from drought restrictions for a long time.”