Waste water is treated at the San Antonio Water System's Steven Clouse Water Recycling Plant last year.
San Antonio Express-News
Liz Teitz, Staff writer
The San Antonio Water System is moving forward with plans to shift the outskirts of its wastewater service area, adding part of southeast Bexar County and removing some acres in Comal County.
The city-owned utility's board of trustees is expected to vote in August on whether to submit applications to the Public Utility Commission of Texas to make the changes.
Under certificates of convenience and necessity, known as CCNs, the utility has the right and obligation to provide water and wastewater services in certain areas. The proposed changes would expand its sewer CCN to match the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction between Loop 410 and Loop 1604, and U.S. 87 and U.S. 181, and withdraw the sewer service from about 1,100 acres of Comal County.
Andrea Beymer, SAWS senior vice president for engineering and construction, told the board Tuesday that SAWS staff have had meetings with other stakeholders in recent months and found support for the changes. She previously presented the proposals to the board in March, and trustees asked her to do more outreach, as well as provide estimates of the financial impact.
The shifts to the utility's boundaries are aimed at encouraging growth in certain areas while protecting other, more environmentally sensitive parts of the region and encouraging infill development. They're also in alignment with the city's comprehensive plan, SAWS has said.
In the expansion area, the utility anticipates adding about 62,000 equivalent dwelling units over a 50-year growth period, bringing in about $700 million in rate revenue and about $100 million in impact fees over that time. An equivalent dwelling unit — commonly known as an EDU — is a measurement that represents the average amount of water a residential household uses per day. That's currently 290 gallons per day of water used and 200 gallons of wastewater discharged into the sewer system.
Infrastructure costs for the SAWS expansion are projected to be about $200 million to $400 million over 30 years, along with operational costs, which would vary depending on what infrastructure is installed.
The East Central Special Utility District already provides water service in that area and has applied to the utility commission to expand its wastewater CCN within the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction as well. Beymer said SAWS staff met with district officials and reminded them SAWS has right of first refusal and that city consent would be necessary for the district to expand there.
Beymer said East Central SUD has not sought city approval or submitted an updated application to the utility commission since those discussions.
Over the past five years, there have been 13 requests for utility service agreements in that area. Those requests are necessary for larger developments. There are about 12,000 acres of developable land there, and expanding wastewater service could drive growth in that area and allow for denser construction than septic systems allow.
The northeastern section in Comal County that would be withdrawn from the SAWS service area is over the Edwards Aquifer recharge and contributing zone, making it an environmentally sensitive area for development. The change would align the CCN boundary with the Bexar County line.
There have been eight requests for SAWS service agreements in that area over the past five years.
The utility's water CCN would remain in place in that part of Comal County, where SAWS has existing water customers. Currently, no wastewater customers in the area would be affected by the change.
If the board votes in support of the changes next month, the utility would submit applications to the utility commission, and landowners, developers or other utilities could protest. If no one contests the decision, it could be completed in about a year, Beymer said, while it could take two to three years if there are protests.
SAWS previously transferred its CCNs for both water and sewer for part of Kendall County to a private company, SJWTX. That came after months of discussion about the utility's role in development outside Bexar County, following a request to service a contentious new subdivision.