This article has been updated.
In a new effort to crack down on utility customers who ignore watering restrictions during periods of drought, the San Antonio Water System may do away with city-issued citations that require San Antonio residents and businesses to pay a $130 fee and go to municipal court.
Instead, the municipally owned water utility would charge water scofflaws a fee, an increased water-use rate or possibly both depending on which drought stage the utility is in. Under the plan presented to SAWS trustees Tuesday, offenders would be charged a fee in Stages 1 and 2, and/or a surcharge in Stage 3 — ideally incentivizing violators to reduce their water use and comply with SAWS watering rules, said Karen Guz, SAWS senior director of conservation.
“When it gets super hot and dry, naturally demand goes up a lot,” Guz told the San Antonio Report. “We are trying to moderate that and rein that in.”
As Bexar County suffers through a period of exceptional drought, SAWS officials told trustees the top 6% of residential water users consumed 22% of the system’s total supply in 2022. Further, commercial users who get cited for violating watering restrictions do not reduce their usage in response to the $130 fee, which has remained unchanged for 20 years, according to SAWS’ presentation.
Last summer’s extreme heat resulted in the biggest increase in gallons per capita per day SAWS has seen in 10 years, Guz said. Currently, gallons per capita per day is 9% higher than what the utility would expect under Stage 2 watering rules, she added.
Watering restriction stages
SAWS customers have been under Stage 2 watering restrictions — watering with sprinklers, irrigation systems or soaker hoses once a week — since April 2022.
SAWS’ first two drought stages use the same criteria that trigger the Edwards Aquifer Authority’s drought restrictions: Edwards Aquifer levels. However, the standards diverge from there; the EAA has declared Stage 4 drought rules, meaning its permit holders — like SAWS — must reduce Edwards Aquifer water use by 40%.
SAWS has never entered Stage 3 watering restrictions, even during the 2011 drought. Under the updated drought plan, SAWS may change how its Stage 3 restrictions are triggered, Guz said. Under a revised Stage 3, customers would have to pay a surcharge rate for their water use, she said.
SAWS officials said the enforcement changes would have several advantages for the utility and its customers:
- watering rules would apply to all SAWS customers — not just those living within San Antonio’s city limits or its extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ). SAWS’ service area includes 17 cities and their ETJs, including Live Oak, Castle Hills, Helotes and others;
- eliminate the time-consuming criminal process customers must go through in court;
- allow SAWS to charge steeper fees on customers during later stages of drought;
- allow SAWS to charge large commercial users more than what residents pay.
Guz said staff is discussing the possibility that first-time violators be allowed to take an online education course that would teach them about water conservation efforts. If the violator completes the course, the first violation fee would be eliminated. She jokingly referred to the online course as “defensive watering,” and said the goal would be for residents to better understand the importance of conservation during drought.
The potential fee costs were not presented; Guz said the utility wants to go through an extensive public input process before setting the fees.
SAWS Trustee Amy Hardberger said she thinks the fees and surcharge rate will act as a strong price signals to residents and businesses who are ignoring watering rules. “I think it’s appropriate for a lot of reasons,” she said.
Abiding by the rules
Today, over 90% of SAWS customers follow the utility’s drought rules, Guz’s presentation noted. However, the other 5% to 9% don’t seem impacted by current enforcement means, she said.
“Commercial irrigation sites are not dropping usage post citations,” the presentation states. “Repeat violators are not impacted by citations.”
That’s likely because the citation cost has been unchanged for so long, Guz said. For large commercial users, the $130 fee is merely a slap on the wrist, added Gavino Ramos, SAWS vice president of communications and external affairs.
Another goal of the proposed new plan is to better ensure that new irrigation systems follow existing regulations. Many new home builders install irrigation systems that go off automatically daily, sometimes without the new homeowner even knowing it. SAWS will seek to make it clearer to homebuilders they need to help the community responsibly follow drought rules.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who sits on the SAWS board in his official capacity, said he would like SAWS officials to speak with city staff and council members about how the city code can be updated to facilitate drought management.
“We’ve talked for a number of years about how it is incongruent that we have these issues with the aquifer, yet every new developer puts down turf that drinks in that water, every new development has these irrigation systems that — in many cases — people are trained to use during drought conditions,” Nirenberg said.
SAWS’ next steps will be to seek community input about the new plan and discuss it with stakeholders. Outreach to stakeholders would take place through October, with SAWS seeking a board vote in December and City Council approval in February.
