San Antonio Council Approves 142-Mile Water Pipeline
By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje
The San Antonio City Council approved a giant new water pipeline in hopes of diversifying and securing the water supply in the drought-plagued region.
The 142-mile pipeline will carry water from Central Texas, the San Antonio Express-News reported. The pipeline "will be built and operated by the San Antonio Water System and a private consortium," the Associated Press reported.
Under the terms of the deal, "San Antonio's water utility would pay Austin-based BlueWater Systems to pump water from underneath Burleson County through a pipeline built by Spanish company Abengoa," according to the Texas Tribune.
San Antonio has been seeking new water sources to supplement the Edwards Aquifer for years, and this project is designed to help meet that goal. The pipeline proposal aims to "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 Express-News reported.
Opponents of the pipeline say it is unnecessary and too expensive, arguing that ratepayers will foot the bill. One ratepayer said in an Express-News editorial: "Warning: By the year 2020, San Antonio Water System will have implemented a 16 percent monthly water rate increase for the next 30 years to pay for an unnecessary $3.4 billion water pipeline."
As the Texas Tribune put it: "Is buying some of the priciest water ever sold in Texas really about securing a needed long-term water supply for the city after decades of failed attempts? Or is it about keeping lawns green even in the most severe of droughts? "
San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor is among those who pushed for approval. She defended the project's high price tag.
"That's the price we will have to pay, especially looking at the fact that we passed up opportunities where it could have been less costly and now we are in 2014 and these are the prices we will have to pay," she said, according to San Antonio 4 News.
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