It appears we’re headed for a long summer with above-average temperatures and below-normal rainfall that would normally replenish Edwards Aquifer levels.
And by 2020, a ninth source will come online when Vista Ridge water begins its journey south to the Alamo City, providing us with 20 percent more water for the next half century and more.
SAWS has been able to accomplish this by developing regional partnerships that allow us to purchase excess water from other systems and investing in new technologies such as desalination and a practice called Aquifer Storage & Recovery, or ASR.
Once treated, the water tastes the same as Edwards Aquifer water and blends with the rest of the water in our system.
The plant can be expanded in the future to produce even more drinking water should we need it.
Located on the same campus as our desal plant, SAWS has stored away an underground lake of drinking water that could supply the city for nearly a year.
We accomplish this by taking excess water during rainy times and storing it in the Carrizo Aquifer to be used during times of drought.
In fact, SAWS pumped out nearly 17 billion gallons of stored Edwards Aquifer water during the record-breaking drought between 2011 and 2014, eliminating the need for harsher watering restrictions for San Antonio.
To meet the cutbacks, SAWS enacts watering restrictions to encourage conservation so we can manage our water supplies.
San Antonio is fortunate to be in this position when you consider the international city of Cape Town, South Africa, could run out of drinking water (dubbed “Day Zero”) sometime this year.