FINAL REPORT Cities of San Antonio and Fair Oaks Ranch Water Policy Analysis Prepared for: The City of San Antonio and the City of Fair Oaks Ranch Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources Texas Water Resources Institute November 2015 1 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................................... 4 LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................................... 9 LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................................... 10 LIST OF COMMENTS ........................................................................................................................................... 10 LIST OF ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................................................ 11 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................. 13 OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................................................. 13 REPORT HISTORY ........................................................................................................................................................ 13 CONTRIBUTORS .......................................................................................................................................................... 14 SCIENCE PANEL REVIEW ............................................................................................................................................... 14 METHODS .......................................................................................................................................................... 16 OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................................................................... 16 RISK ANALYSES – WATER RESOURCES ............................................................................................................................. 17 GRADE ASSESSMENT – WATER ISSUES ............................................................................................................................ 21 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................. 23 CITY OF SAN ANTONIO – WATER RESOURCES .................................................................................................... 23 Edwards Aquifer ................................................................................................................................................ 25 SAWS Recycled Water ....................................................................................................................................... 28 SAWS Twin Oaks Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) ..................................................................................... 32 Vista Ridge Water ............................................................................................................................................. 35 Carrizo Groundwater (Bexar County) ................................................................................................................ 39 Brackish Groundwater Desalination ................................................................................................................. 41 Medina Lake ...................................................................................................................................................... 44 Carrizo Groundwater (Gonzales County) ........................................................................................................... 46 Water Conservation .......................................................................................................................................... 48 Western Canyon Water ..................................................................................................................................... 51 Trinity/Oliver Ranch Aquifer .............................................................................................................................. 53 Lake Dunlap Wells/Wells Ranch ........................................................................................................................ 55 CITY OF SAN ANTONIO – WATER ISSUES ............................................................................................................. 57 Water Planning ................................................................................................................................................. 59 Population Estimates ...................................................................................................................................................... 59 GPCD (Demand Management) ....................................................................................................................................... 62 Public Input and Communication ................................................................................................................................... 64 Climate Change .............................................................................................................................................................. 66 Water Shortage, 2060-2070 ........................................................................................................................................... 67 Water Management.......................................................................................................................................... 69 Drought Management .................................................................................................................................................... 69 Lost Water/Non-revenue Water .................................................................................................................................... 71 Edwards Aquifer Habitat Conservation Plan .................................................................................................................. 74 Bexar Metropolitan Water District Integration (Bexar Met) .......................................................................................... 76 2 San Antonio as a Water Neighbor .................................................................................................................................. 78 Water Quality .................................................................................................................................................... 79 Edwards Aquifer Conservation Easements ..................................................................................................................... 79 EARZ and Contributing Zone Protections ....................................................................................................................... 82 Contamination Threat .................................................................................................................................................... 85 Low Impact Development (LID) ...................................................................................................................................... 87 Coal Tar Sealant .............................................................................................................................................................. 89 Annexation of Unincorporated Areas............................................................................................................................. 91 Regulatory Agencies .......................................................................................................................................... 92 Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) ..................................................................................................................... 92 Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ............................. 94 Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA) ................................................................................................................................... 97 Local Groundwater Districts ........................................................................................................................................... 99 Water Cost ...................................................................................................................................................... 100 Water Project Costs ...................................................................................................................................................... 100 Residential Water Rates ............................................................................................................................................... 102 Commercial and Industrial Rates.................................................................................................................................. 108 Impact Fees .................................................................................................................................................................