SAWS warns six-year drought, outlines supply portfolio and leak-reduction push

San Antonio Water System officials briefed the Municipal Utilities Committee May 20 on the city’s prolonged drought, supply diversification projects and a stepped-up program to find and fix leaks across the system.

The briefing, led by Steven Siebert of SAWS’ water resources team and Karen Guz, SAWS vice president of conservation, placed Bexar County in the U.S. Drought Monitor’s most severe category and described supply projects, conservation targets and expanded leak-detection efforts to protect drinking water and meet demand through 2075.

SAWS data presented at the meeting show the city is in its sixth year of drought and that May — historically the wettest month with more than 4 inches of rain on average — had only received 0.19 inches before a recent 2.5-inch rain at the airport. That event raised the month to roughly 65% of normal. Since 2020 SAWS says the region has a rainfall deficit of about 55 inches. The utility’s J‑17 Edwards Aquifer monitoring well has tracked close to the 1950s drought of record; SAWS reported the Edwards Aquifer Authority moved permit holders from a stage 4 curtailment (about 40% reduction) to stage 5 (about 44% reduction), and SAWS forecasts roughly a 40% critical period reduction off its permits — equivalent to more than 100,000 acre-feet.

Steven Siebert, a manager in SAWS’ water resources department, described SAWS’ diversified supply portfolio and long-term projects intended to reduce reliance on the Edwards Aquifer. He stressed that SAWS now draws roughly 52% of its supply from the Edwards and maintains 13 supply projects from seven sources. Major projects in the 2025 Water Management Plan include expansions to the ASR (aquifer storage and recovery) treatment plant to recover up to 45 million gallons per day, additional Carrizo production (about 21,000 acre-feet per year), phases 2 and 3 of a brackish groundwater desalination project (about 22,000 acre-feet in the early 2040s) and a long-term Regional Wilcox brackish project. Combined, those planned supplies represent about 74,000 acre-feet to bolster supply through 2075, SAWS said.

On demand management, SAWS reported a drop in per-capita use to about 114 gallons per person per day last year, down substantially from 225 gallons per person per day in 1982. SAWS’ long-range modeling targets a per-capita reduction to about 87 gallons per day by 2075 through conservation, water-loss reduction and optimization of supply contracts.

Karen Guz summarized customer-facing programs. SAWS’ Connect H2O metering program is replacing up to 600,000 meters by year-end; the system can notify customers automatically of continuous flows and leaks, and staff resolve many calls by phone. Guz said first-time watering-rule violators can take a one-hour “defensive watering” class instead of court and that the revised enforcement process, combined with outreach, reduced violations by 54% year over year and repeat violations by about 80%.

Guz described incentives to change landscaping (coupons and rebates), a targeted parking-lot-island incentive to preserve trees while eliminating overspray, an upgraded landscape coupon that adds $25 for each 200 square feet and allows up to four coupons per household per year, and discounts on smart irrigation controllers for SAWS customers. SAWS staff said they are holding HOA meetings and other outreach events and have added temporary staff to update commercial contact information for notifications.

Council members asked detailed questions about water loss and infrastructure. Councilman White pressed SAWS on comparisons with peer cities and what steps the utility is taking to reduce water loss; SAWS staff said the system’s fragmentation, soil contraction and 14,000 miles of pipe make direct city-to-city comparisons difficult. SAWS said it had added more than 100 crews to respond to breaks, increased pipe‑replacement funding from about $34 million in 2024 to $108 million in the current year with a five‑year average of $76 million through 2030, and more than doubled its proactive leak-detection team. SAWS reported about a 10% reduction in water loss over the past year and said its backlog for repairs has fallen roughly 40%.

Multiple council members urged stronger coordination between SAWS and the city’s public works department to minimize repeated street excavations, and Councilman White asked if one person was overseeing the leak-reduction effort; SAWS said a program director was recently promoted into that role.

Council members also discussed conservation incentives for homeowners (rebates for emergency shutoff valves, irrigation plan reviews, pressure-regulator education) and commercial customers (rebates and checkups for large irrigation accounts). On data centers, SAWS said many use recycled water for cooling towers and that, to date, data centers account for about 2% of commercial‑sector water use; SAWS offered to provide council with a summary of which facilities use recycled water.

The committee approved the April 22 minutes at the start of the session by voice vote. No other formal actions or votes were taken at the meeting.