San Antonio City Council approves pipeline to Burleson County

Henry Urban, of Lee and Bastrop Counties enters City Council Chamber to lend his opposition to the proposed San Antonio Water Systems 42-mile water pipeline during a San Antonio City Council hearing, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014. The $3.4 billion pipeline, known as the Vista Ridge Water Supply Project would bring water from Burleson County, east of Austin, to San Antonio. It is expected to increase SAWS customers rate by as much as 17 percent. less Henry Urban, of Lee and Bastrop Counties enters City Council Chamber to lend his opposition to the proposed San Antonio Water Systems 42-mile water pipeline during a San Antonio City Council hearing, Wednesday, ... more Photo: San Antonio Express-News Photo: San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 60 Caption Close San Antonio City Council approves pipeline to Burleson County 1 / 60 Back to Gallery

SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio City Council unanimously approved a public-private project Thursday to build a 142-mile pipeline to transport up to 16.3 billion gallons annually from Central Texas to San Antonio for at least 30 years.

Council members said the water project, perhaps the largest in the city's history, will help diversify the local supply, relieve dependence on the Edwards Aquifer and expand the amount of water available during a drought by up to 20 percent.

The council vote followed appeals from about 40 people on both sides of the issue. Maria Berriozabal, a former councilwoman, said the pipeline is the latest of many projects, including two failed Applewhite reservoir voter initiatives in the 1990s, that had support of the business community and City Hall insiders but proved to be ill-advised.

“We have never had a project as expensive as this — ever,” said Berriozabal, whose declaration, “not in my name,” was dramatically echoed by several other opponents in the council chambers.

Margaret Day, executive committee chair with the Alamo Group of the Sierra Club, said the San Antonio Water System has produced a “smoke and mirrors show” to sell the project, without releasing key facts and figures. Rather than going 140 miles northeast for water, SAWS should focus on working with neighboring counties on expanded brackish water desalination, she said.

“We need to develop a good neighbor program,” Day said.

Patricia Stout, chairwoman of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said she supported the project as a business leader, mother and grandmother.

“If this doesn't pass, what is the alternative? How are we going to resolve our water issue?” Stout said in remarks to the council.

The project has had strong opposition from community and environmental groups who have called it costly, risky and wasteful. Some have challenged whether SAWS even needs the water from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer, some 1,000-4,000 feet below ground in Burleson County, east of Austin. SAWS and city officials have said the project will result in a customer rate increase of up to 16 to 19 percent.

Business and industry groups have backed SAWS' contention that the water will be needed to fuel economic vitality and accommodate future growth, projected to average 20,000 new residents annually.

SAWS said it is committed to continued conservation, aquifer stewardship and creation of a “lifeline rate,” in addition to its existing affordability programs, for low-income residential customers who consume no more than 2,244 gallons per month.

In response to questions from Mayor Ivy Taylor to what she called “valid concerns” from residents, SAWS CEO Robert Puente said the utility is building the first phase of a brackish water desalination plant south of the city. But he said SAWS cannot expand that project to produce the full volume of water SAWS will need beyond 2020 without securing permits from groundwater regulators.

Under the pipeline project, the privately owned Vista Ridge Consortium will take on risks of the “politics of groundwater districts,” Puente said. He and other SAWS officials reminded the council of options and protections the utility will have if it decides to terminate its 616-page contract with the consortium.

At the end of the 30-year term, SAWS stands to assume ownership of the pipeline, with an option to renew the Burleson County water leases for another 30 years.

Taylor said she felt connected to events of the city's past and aspirations for its future as the council pondered its decision.

“I do feel the weight of history at this point,” she said.

shuddleston@express-news.net

Twitter: @shuddlestonSA