WATER WAR: San Antonio water customers are bracing for 50 percent higher bills to fund a $3.4 billion pipeline.
Under federal orders to fix its leaky sewer system, San Antonio is doubling down with a $3.4 billion pipeline that will pump up water bills by 50 percent over five years. The EPA has no problem with that.
The City Council green-lighted the Vista Ridge pipeline to draw water from Burleson County 140 miles to the east. The controversial project — the largest in the history of the city water system — is branded a boondoggle by critics. An independent study warned it was “high risk.”
“People in Burleson County are outraged,” said Linda Curtis, director of Independent Texans and resident of nearby Bastrop.
Bob Martin, president of the Homeowner-Taxpayer Association of Bexar County, said San Antonio Water System customers are getting soaked. “We don’t know what’s coming after the five-year rate increase,” he said.
Over the next 10-12 years, SAWS is under a federal consent order to spend $492 million more to repair or replace lines that have been prone to sewer overflows.
SAWS critics say the system’s crumbling infrastructure reflects shoddy maintenance and fails to inspire confidence in management. Anger over the rate increases boiled over at a five-hour public hearing Thursday.
The business community gave political cover to the City Council, endorsing the Vista Ridge project and higher water charges.
Henry Cisneros, a former mayor and secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under Bill Clinton, told Watchdog.org he supports the SAWS package as board chairman of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.
“It threads the needle,” he said of the plan.
SAWS’ new rate schedule will reduce costs for residential users consuming fewer than 5,000 gallons monthly. Businesses and residents exceeding that low threshold will get sharply higher bills.
Overall, SAWS says, San Antonio’s average monthly water bill of $58.60 is lower than those in Fort Worth, Dallas, Houston and Austin.
VIDEO: Opposing the San Antone hose
While pushing water conservation with its more steeply tiered rates, San Antonio figures to get more pricey as costs kick in for EPA compliance and the new Vista Ridge pipeline.
SAWS states that Vista Ridge will ensure a reliable water supply for a metro area that regularly struggles with drought conditions. Opponents respond that San Antonio’s giant Edwards Aquifer has an estimated 200 to 300 years of life remaining – though the federal government has restricted expansion amid concerns about endangered lizards.
Despite fears about groundwater losses in agricultural-dependent Burleson and Milam counties — recalling the death spiral experienced by California’s Owens Valley when its water was appropriated by Los Angeles — the EPA has registered no objections over Vista Ridge, yet.
Ultimately, Martin says San Antonio’s aggressive annexation agenda endangers residents.
“Look at the cost of runaway growth as the city considers future business tax abatements and other benefits. This growth has caused city taxes and utility rates to skyrocket,” he said.
Kenric Ward writes for the Texas Bureau of Watchdog.org. Contact him at kward@watchdog.org.