This is the time of year we typically experience scorching temps, dry weather and landscape watering reductions. But 2021 has been far from typical — gully washers in May ended Stage 2 and Stage 1 watering rules and a wetter-than-normal July has helped maintain our restriction-free streak.
Still, Mother Nature doesn’t deserve all the credit for preventing more severe watering cutbacks seen elsewhere in the region in recent years.
San Antonio’s investment in diverse water sources beyond the Edwards Aquifer is the major reason for our city’s water security — even during times of severe drought.
“We have worked hard to diversify our water sources to ensure San Antonio is water secure for generations,” said Robert R. Puente, SAWS president/ CEO. “SAWS has plenty of water to meet customer demand coming from water projects such as the Vista Ridge Pipeline, our desalination plant and others.”
In 1995, 100 percent of San Antonio’s water came from the Edwards Aquifer. Fast forward to today, SAWS manages 15 water supply projects originating from nine different sources.
While every source is vital, there are three heavy lifters in SAWS’ varied water portfolio.
Desalination
In 2016, SAWS began pumping salty water from nearly 1,500 feet underground in the Wilcox Aquifer and treating it to produce 12 million gallons of drinking water each day.
Regional Carrizo
Two projects in one, this infrastructure-sharing partnership with the cities of Schertz and Seguin taps unused capacity in their wellfield, pipeline and treatment plant to transport water from Gonzales County to San Antonio.
Vista Ridge
San Antonio’s largest-ever non-Edwards Aquifer source delivers water from wells in Burleson County via a 142-mile pipeline. More than 48 million gallons of Vista Ridge water per day are treated to match Edwards Aquifer quality before supplying more than 200,000 households.
Drought stage watering rules are not yet a thing of the past, but they are becoming less of a concern thanks to SAWS’ continuous planning to secure our growing community’s future water needs.
Visit WaterCitySA.com to view our city’s comprehensive water management plan.