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OPINION > COMMENTARY To protect aquifer, limit SAWS service area ANNALISA PEACE, FOR THE EXPRESS-NEWS : JULY 18, 2014 : Updated: July 18, 2014 2:18pm E-mail Print Tweet 3 0 Recent Headlines ADVERTISEMENT ARM Calculator Free calculators.interest.com Learn About Your Rate Adjustments. Compare Lenders in Your State. Free SAN ANTONIO — Now that SAWS is considering acquisition of new water supplies from the Vista Ridge project, the prospect that these supplies will be used to expand development over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone looms large. Since January, the consent agendas at SAWS board meetings have featured 26 YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE ADVERTISEMENT Subscribe to Express-News : Find&Save : Classifieds : Obituaries : Celebrations : Place a Classified Register : Sign In 71k Like June 26, 2015 San Antonio's Home Page 79° F Mostly Cloudy mySA.com Local Directory Home Local US & World Business Sports Food Entertainment Lifestyle Opinion Cars Jobs Homes 0 Annalisa Peace is the executive director of the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance. ‘The Sellout’ captures cultural moment Pope’s analysis misses gains from technology such as fracking Meditate for success Lawmakers boost UTHSC health mission Texas huge winner in ACA ruling Meet the Best Potato Salad You've Never Tasted (Food.com) OMG...These 17 Bizarre Notes Left on Receipts Are Hilarious (Wizzed) We Tried Blue Apron: Here's What Happened (Lover.ly) Never Buy Boxed Pancake Mix Again (Food.com)
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6/26/2015 To protect aquifer, limit SAWS service area - San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/An-open-letter-to-the-San-Antonio-Water-Systems-5628924.php 1/5
OPINION > COMMENTARY
To protect aquifer, limit SAWSservice areaANNALISA PEACE, FOR THE EXPRESS-NEWS : JULY 18, 2014 : Updated: July 18, 2014 2:18pm
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SAN ANTONIO — Now that SAWS isconsidering acquisition of new water suppliesfrom the Vista Ridge project, the prospectthat these supplies will be used to expanddevelopment over the Edwards Aquiferrecharge zone looms large.
Since January, the consent agendas atSAWS board meetings have featured 26
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Annalisa Peace is the executive director of the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance.
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6/26/2015 To protect aquifer, limit SAWS service area - San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/An-open-letter-to-the-San-Antonio-Water-Systems-5628924.php 2/5
requests for water and sewer utility serviceagreements on the Edwards watershed. Mostwere approved with no discussion.
By approving these utility serviceagreements, SAWS opens new areas ofhighly sensitive aquifer lands to high-densitydevelopment.
Gene Dawson, president of Pape-DawsonEngineers Inc., sums up the issue quitesuccinctly in an April 9 article in the SanAntonio Express-News, “Business in, wasteout,” stating, “Organized wastewatercollection is what drives development.”
When SAWS provides water and sewer service, it enables much higher density, usually as high asfour to six lots per acre. Housing developments of this density bring increased traffic,thoroughfare construction, sewage infrastructure installed within streams that recharge theaquifer and other related impacts, all leading to pollution of the aquifer.
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For this reason, the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, or GEAA, has consistently opposedSAWS wastewater service contracts over the Edwards Aquifer recharge and transitions zones,and the contiguous contributing zone.
At the April 21 meeting of the SAWS board's Policy and Planning Committee, SAWS staff madea presentation regarding SAWS' role in land development.
The question: “Should SAWS oversize infrastructure to tracts over the Edwards Aquifer rechargeor contributing zones?”
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SAWS staff listed several reasons why they should expand infrastructure to new developments.The sole reason provided by staff against doing so was that “some developments are overrecharge or contributing zones.”
To make a decision on this very important issue, we think the SAWS board should be aware ofthe following facts:
There are a host of expensive regulatory requirements involved with expanding development overthe recharge zone, including regular camera testing of sewage lines and inspection of stormwaterfiltration basins.
None of these measures is required for development that is not over the recharge zone, and theseexpenses are currently borne by all SAWS ratepayers.
So it appears that SAWS ratepayers are subsidizing development in our most environmentallysensitive area.
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6/26/2015 To protect aquifer, limit SAWS service area - San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/An-open-letter-to-the-San-Antonio-Water-Systems-5628924.php 3/5
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In 2007, GEAA and San Geronimo Valley Alliance successfully contested SAWS' permitapplications to the state for designation as the sole provider of water and sewer service for largeareas of the recharge zone.
Unfortunately, we did not have funds to protect the entire recharge zone in San Antonio'sextraterritorial jurisdiction from SAWS' misguided permit applications.
Consequently, SAWS was later required to issue water and wastewater service contracts toCrescent Hills, the controversial high-density development next to the Bracken Cave andpreserve.
Acquisition of SAWS service had the effect of driving up the purchase price of this land — makingit more expensive for San Antonio to protect this unique part of the recharge zone.
GEAA is calling on SAWS to amend state permits to exclude the entire recharge zone from thearea where it is required by law to provide service.
Monitoring conducted by the Edwards Aquifer Authority routinely detects anthropogeniccontaminants such as unmetabolized drugs at Comal and Hueco springs. Presence of thesepollutants indicates that urbanization of the recharge zone is affecting water quality, as theseconstituents could only have come from the wastewater stream.
We suspect that the high incidence of SAWS sewage leaks on the recharge zone is contributingto the degradation of our water supplies.
Developments outside of the city of San Antonio's extraterritorial jurisdiction are not subject toSan Antonio's water quality ordinances. Nor do they benefit the residents of San Antonio bycontributing sales or property taxes. SAWS should not be serving these areas.
These are just a few of the reasons we have for urging the members of the SAWS board to setpolicy that is consistent with protecting the Edwards Aquifer.
We thank the one board member who has met with us so we could raise some of our concernsduring the deliberations that followed the staff presentation.
It is our hope that all the SAWS board members take the opportunity to meet with us prior toadopting a policy regarding service on the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. And we urge allconcerned citizens of San Antonio to contact SAWS board members to let them know you favorenhancing protection of the Edwards Aquifer by curtailing SAWS utility service agreements withinthis region.
SAWS does an excellent job for the residents of San Antonio in so many aspects of itsoperations. In our opinion, protecting the Edwards Aquifer is not one of them.
Since SAWS is the agency empowered by the city to enforce San Antonio's water qualityordinances, we hope the board will move forward with a well-informed discussion of these issuesin the near future.
We need SAWS to become part of the solution in protecting the Edwards Aquifer, not part of theproblem.
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6/26/2015 To protect aquifer, limit SAWS service area - San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/An-open-letter-to-the-San-Antonio-Water-Systems-5628924.php 4/5
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6/26/2015 To protect aquifer, limit SAWS service area - San Antonio Express-News
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