CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The city is continuing its efforts to try and slow down residents’ water use. They've done that, in part, by handing out tickets to violators, but many are ignoring the restrictions and are ending up with a ticket.
Corpus Christi Water said many weren't following the rules, and people might be surprised about the number of tickets the city said it's handed out during Stage 1.
Stage 1 water restrictions went into effect in Summer 2022. Since that time, thousands of people have violated those measures.
"Since 2022 -- June of 2022 to early March -- we issued approximately a little over 2,000 citations," said CCW Water Resource Manager Esteban Ramos.
The city moved into Stage 2 in March. That means watering every other week with your sprinkler system.
Like Stage 1, people aren't catching on so well to the new rules for whatever reason and the city is warning them right now.
"Since the March time we've given a little over 300 warnings to that,” said Ramos. “So, we're continuing to work with our community. We're continuing to get the message out there."
Council member Roland Barrera is hoping industry which is the biggest water customer is conserving as much water as they can. He also says people could cut their water use by doing simple things.
"Let's say, for example, I'm used to taking a 15 minute shower and I cut it down by a minute-and-a-half, you know, or a 10 minute shower and cut it down by a minute and we do that as an entire household, you know,” said the District 3 councilman. “Those simple things can help us reduce our water intake."
City manager Peter Zanoni said he's aware that Stage 3 water restrictions could be here sooner than later.