SAWS delays Stage 3 despite drought

Preparation, conservation allows utility to not restrict customers any further

SAWS has announced it is holding off on implementing Stage 3 water restrictions.

SAN ANTONIO – The Edwards Aquifer has been below the Stage 3 water restriction threshold for weeks now.

After falling quite rapidly during most of the summer, the level has leveled off a bit.

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Drought restrictions have played a part in the leveling, and the end of the growing season has helped to curb the amount farmers have been taking from the resource as well.

"So a combination of those two things, I think, has slowed down the drop of the aquifer," said Greg Flores, VP of public affairs for San Antonio Water System.

Even though the aquifer has fallen below the 640-foot mark, SAWS has no intentions of implementing Stage 3 this year.

One of the reasons why we're not going in to Stage 3 restrictions is that the Edwards Aquifer isn't the only source SAWS has to draw from.

"The investment that has really paid off in this drought and even over the last two years has been a stored supply of water that we have underground in south Bexar County," said Flores. "And in addition to that, we're taking water from Canyon Lake, from the Trinity Aquifer, from the Carrizo Aquifer and from Lake Dunlap."

These other sources add up to a tremendous supply of water.

"We won't tap out of the stored supply for several years. We're very fortunate that we've go half of the city's annual demand stored away underground where it wont even evaporate," said Flores.

The other component is conservation, and continued following of stage II restrictions by customers is what will keep the reserves in ample supply going forward.

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