SAWS Desal Project Lands $50M Low-Interest Loan

San Antonio Water System announced recently that it has been awarded a $50M loan from the Texas Water Development Board. The low-interest financing will be used to build the region's first-ever groundwater desalination plant in southern Bexar County.

Water will begin flowing from the $229M reverse osmosis plant in 2016. The facility will reach its full production capacity of 28,000 acre-feet per year by 2026. Unlike San Antonio's Edwards Aquifer supply, the salty water in the Wilcox Aquifer is not subject to pumping restrictions during drought.

The $50M loan is the third round of low-interest financing to be used for this water supply project. Previous TWDB loans totaling $59M went toward planning and design, and for drilling wells.

The groundwater desal project is part of San Antonio's 50-year water management plan, a roadmap for securing the Alamo City's water future via new supplies and responsible water management. You can download the proposed 2012 plan update here (http://www.saws.org/Your_Water/WaterResources/2012_wmp/).