SAWS' trustees unanimously approved selective changes to the municipally owned water utility's service area Tuesday.
Sections of pipe lay on the ground ready to be installed as part of SAWS' Specht Road water main improvement over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone in northern Bexar County.Despite a request from the North San Antonio Chamber for the San Antonio Water System to fully expand its water service area on the city’s environmentally sensitive Northwest Side, the utility’s trustees voted Tuesday to continue deciding on providing services in this area on a case-by-case basis.
SAWS’ service area is where the utility has “first right of refusal for service.” In other words, a developer can’t seek water from another provider without first seeing if SAWS will be their provider. Unless there is reasonable cause for refusal, SAWS must provide water and/or wastewater within its state-approved service area to anyone who asks.
For a long time, the utility’s service area has served as a point of contention between SAWS, developers and environmentalists due to the fact developers must secure water and wastewater service agreements prior to starting construction. Environmentalists have pushed for the utility to deny access to water or wastewater services as a means of halting developments, but the utility’s hands are typically effectively tied under the state laws regarding service areas.
“There are so many variables in that area because of the geology and the importance in terms of water quality and water recharge,” she said. This portion of San Antonio sits over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone.
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