NOTE: The full presentation on proposed rules changes and video of the meeting are available here.
At the August Board of Trustees meeting, San Antonio Water System (SAWS) staff presented new ideas about watering rules in advance of public outreach to garner input. SAWS Vice President of Conservation Karen Guz presented a summary of what led to the proposal, as well as a plan forward.
Guz presented a summary of the proposed changes to current watering stages, including a measure to change the enforcement from a Municipal Court citation to a charge on the water bill. The new structure could also include costs associated with violating watering rules, with an escalating scale depending on use and drought stage.
While SAWS plans for conditions as bad or worse than the drought of record, recent developments have shifted a focus toward more efficient, enforceable options. Since the City last updated the Conservation Ordinance in 2014, San Antonio’s population has surged, water supplies have diversified, technology evolved, and housing trends have shifted.
“We want to update the drought management watering rules to be more fair, effective, and efficient,” Guz said during the presentation. “We think it’s important to shift away from a criminal process with a citation cost that hasn’t changed in 20 years, to one that is more efficient and can apply to all SAWS customers equally – including those that live in separately incorporated cities where it is currently a challenge to use a City of San Antonio citation.”
An additional load on the water system is the inclusion of irrigation systems in almost all new housing. Many of the systems are inefficient, or even wasteful; costing new residents who use them unnecessarily high water bills and causing significant challenges in the water system infrastructure that supplies them. Much of this new development is outside limits of the City of San Antonio, making current processes to get good workmanship difficult.
“While most customers have followed drought rules, we need better tools to influence a small percentage of customers who use very large amounts to water their landscapes in violation of our rules,” said Guz. “In 2022, just six percent of our top residential water customers used 21 percent of water provided to household water accounts. In contrast, the lowest 52 percent of residential water users accounted for only
23 percent of water.”
Extraordinarily high water use in certain areas of the city has taxed the system’s water infrastructure and brought a new emphasis to managing water demand that was previously unimagined. Portions of SAWS water system show tank levels dropping overnight beyond normal demand. This is from outdoor watering and provides a focus for increased patrol and ticket citation efforts in these areas.
More than 3,000 water waste citations have been issued so far this year, and neighborhood patrolling will continue, including inside gated communities.
Meetings will follow with Council, community and stakeholder meetings. After what will likely be six to eight months of discussion, the Board may act on proposed changes to watering rules, followed by City consideration of a fee structure that would recover cost of enforcement.
Current Stage 2 watering days are designated by the last number of your street address. Watering with a sprinkler, irrigation system or soaker hose is allowed only between 7-11 a.m. and 7-11 p.m. on your designated day. Watering with a hand-held hose is still allowed any time on any day.
0 or 1 – Monday
2 or 3 – Tuesday
4 or 5 – Wednesday
6 or 7 – Thursday
8 or 9 – Friday
SAWS customers can take advantage of SAWS WaterSaver coupons and rebates to spruce up their yards and save money while saving water. Learn more at gardenstylesanantonio.com/coupons-and-rebates.