Your Water
Carrizo Aquifer
Project to Help With Water Supply Diversification
A cooperative regional partnership has helped to secure the largest non-Edwards supply in SAWS' history. Approval of permits by the Gonzales County Underground Water Conservation District will allow SAWS to produce and transport up to 11,688 acre-feet of Carrizo Aquifer groundwater from Gonzales County to San Antonio. Pipeline routing, acquisition of easements and facility design are currently underway on all segments of the project.
SAWS recently received permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to allow construction of the new Buckhorn well field. SAWS is nearly finished conducting the required environmental and archaeological/historical studies to obtain the Corps permits needed to construct other portions of the project.
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Project Profile
The Regional Carrizo project is located in Gonzales, approximately 50 miles east ofSan Antonio. The project includes delivery of water from western Gonzales County.
Up to 13 million gallons per day (mgd) of water produced from this well field will be transported by pipeline to an integration point in northeast San Antonio where it will enter the SAWS distribution system.
Instead of building a new pipeline, SAWS plans to "rent" available capacity in an existing pipeline owned and operated by Schertz-Seguin Local Government Corporation. The well field, supply pipeline, Schertz pump station and delivery pipeline are all currently under construction.
Current activities underway also include acquisition of easements and performance of environmental and archeological field surveys required for permitting.
The project is estimated to cost $149 million. This project is expected to provide water for approximately 60,000 households by late 2013.
Project Benefits
- The Regional Carrizo project will assist in diversifying San Antonio's water supply, reducing dependence on existing Edwards Aquifer supplies.
- The project will provide water to help meet San Antonio's short- and mid-term water needs, beginning in late 2013.
- Up to 5,550 acre-feet of additional supply could be added to the total project through purchase agreements with other utilities, for a total supply to San Antonio of up to 17,237 acre-feet per year.
* An acre-foot of water is equivalent to 325,851 gallons.
