SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Water System announced Monday that it will end drought restrictions following historic rainfall totals in the month of September.
SAWS officials said the end of drought restrictions will take effect Tuesday. According to a news release, extreme rainfall brought the Edwards Aquifer above the drought restriction trigger.
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KSAT meteorologist Sarah Spivey said the city has seen nearly 17 inches of rain since Labor Day, with other areas seeing more. The rain has brought the Edwards Aquifer up more than 34 feet, Spivey said.
❗️BREAKING: Effective Tues., Oct. 2, San Antonio will exit #drought restrictions & return to Year-Round watering rules, which can be found here: https://t.co/1ptg5Mv9AC #satx #txwater @Noticias60 @UnivisionSATX @SpecNewsSA @TPRNews @NOWCastSA @adamcaskey @JaredKENS5 pic.twitter.com/CEWHMf1Pr8
— SAWS 🎃👻 (@MySAWS) October 1, 2018
Drought restrictions have been in place since May. SAWS advised city officials that it would be OK to lift the restrictions given the rainfall and National Weather Service's prediction that the city will experience above-normal precipitation for the rest of the year.
SAWS has invested in diversifying its water sources by establishing the Aquifer Storage and Recovery and Desalination Plant, effectively allowing customers to avoid "more severe drought restrictions seen elsewhere in the region in recent years."
The city will return to year-round watering rules. More information on year-round regulations can be found online.