As Opening Day approaches for the Corpus Christi Hooks, the team is navigating current drought conditions to maintain the playing surface at Whataburger Field."This will be the berm in some of our fan areas people are going to notice, and it's unfo rtunate, but these are again the collective efforts that hopefully the hooks and everybody are making in the time that we're in," said Brady Ballard, the general manager for the Corpus Christi Hooks. How the Corpus Christi Hooks maintain Whataburger Field in a droughtHe explained to KRIS 6 News that maintaining their field during current drought conditions has been tough, but they have been making changes for a few seasons already."We renovated the field and put in a different field material, it's called TifTuf, more drought-tolerant right from the get-go," Ballard said. "We actually changed some of the dirt product, which, in the same way, better absorbs moisture and things of that nature."Ballard said the field they had before the 2025 season was an older hybrid that required more care. The TifTuf grass helps keep the field healthy."With any facility like this or golf course, otherwise there's, there's irrigation systems," Ballard said. "There's some in our case we have dirt, so there's things you have to do there because it would otherwise be dusty and rock hard and, and that can't be the case either."The team has professionals with the scientific know-how behind maintaining the field. Ballard said he has steady conversations with the city about their water use to stay in compliance, and he has been having those conversations for years. They even turned off the irrigation system for the berms long before the 2025 season."We've continued to make those adjustments, open some communication, understanding again that we have to have this balance of what's required of us, not only more so as a business but as an industry of hosting professional baseball players," Ballard said.With a well-maintained field, the Hooks are ready to start their season."We're really that we're all in it together, you know, we're here as a community dealing with a unique situation and, you know, we hope certainly that the hooks can give you a break from some of those trials, tribulations, stresses that come out, but you know we got unique opportunity here with the team that we have," Ballard said.Ballard did not say how much water was used to keep the field alive, but he assured that they are doing their best to conserve while also maintaining the best fan experience possible. ...read more read less