SAWS board OKs rate increases next year
Rising cost of bills aimed at keeping up with growth in city, particularly in securing water
Expect a small increase in water and sewer bills next year to pay for projects aimed at keeping up with growth in San Antonio.
A 4.7 percent rate increase effective Jan. 1 will raise the average monthly residential bill from $65.66 to $68.60, according to San Antonio Water System.
More increases are likely over the next five years. SAWS projects it will seek a 11.8 percent rate hike in 2020; no rate increase in 2021; a 7.7 percent rise in 2022, and a 5.8 percent jump in 2023. In a presentation to the SAWS board last month, the staff projected the average bill will be $86.67 — nearly 32 percent higher than today — in five years.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg and SAWS Trustee Eduardo Parra cautioned that even though SAWS appears on pace to secure water for the future, with 1 million more residents by 2040, the utility and the city need to work together to plan for growth.
Nirenberg specifically mentioned rules and incentives related to building construction that could help San Antonio focus on infill development and high-rise construction as an alternative to sprawl.
“We do have a lot of work to do with regard to planning of the city, growing up rather than out,” Nirenberg said during a meeting Tuesday of the SAWS board, which approved the budget.
Parra asked if SAWS could save money on capital costs by the city shifting from outward to upward growth. Staff members said a trend toward more high-rise development would conserve water, but could force SAWS to replace or upsize old water and sewer mains downtown and in older neighborhoods.
“I think it’s been proven that if you have more vertical construction, you will reduce the amount of water use per customer connection,” SAWS Chief Financial Officer Doug Evanson said.
SAWS’ capital improvements planned for next year increased to $377.3 million after the utility accelerated a wastewater project in the area of Lackland AFB after recent heavy rains, Evanson said. That project was set for 2023 construction, but moved up to 2020, which is shaping up to be the biggest year in SAWS’ 26-year history for capital improvements “by quite a large margin,” with $600 million in sewer and water projects planned, he said.
SAWS has rarely broken the $400 million mark for capital projects in a single year, Evanson noted.
Aside from federally mandated sewer improvements, SAWS also is working on a local integration pipeline system to distribute water delivered from Central Texas through the 142-mile Vista Rige pipeline. That project, to begin providing water from the CarrizoWilcox Aquifer in April 2020, reduces the city’s dependence on the Edwards Aquifer.
The board also approved a resolution consenting to the selection of EPCOR Services as the operating service provider for the Vista Ridge project. EPCOR, a company owned by the Canadian city of Edmonton, builds, owns and operates utility networks in Canada and the U.S. It was chosen by Garney Construction, the project company for Vista Ridge, through a competitive selection process.
In 2016, EPCOR bought The 130 Pipeline, a 53-mile wholesale water supply pipeline carrying Carrizo-Wilcox water from Burleson County to eastern Travis County.
Nirenberg said he supports the contract, which requires EPCOR to deliver up to 16.3 billion gallons of water to quality standards and manage all major equipment repair and replacement necessary for the pipeline. SAWS will own the pipeline after 30 years.
After the meeting, SAWS President and CEO Robert Puente said he is relieved that Proposition A, one of three proposed city charter amendments on a local ballot last week, did not pass. It would have lowered the number of signatures needed on a petition to initiate a vote on local issues. SAWS officials were worried that would hurt the city’s bond rating, potentially resulting in higher interest rates and higher project costs.