The Capital Improvement Program (CIP) is a planning and budgeting tool that provides information about SAWS infrastructure needs. It identifies requirements for sustaining, restoring and modernizing the facilities and infrastructure that support water supply and delivery, wastewater collection and treatment, and chilled water requirements in the SAWS service area. It also prioritizes and schedules projects for funding and execution through a multi-year plan.
The CIP supports four core businesses: Water Supply, Water Delivery, Wastewater and Chilled Water. Water Supply CIP consists of projects to develop long term water supplies from surface and groundwater sources, including any transmission pipelines required to deliver these water supplies to SAWS service area. Water Delivery provides for the expansion, improvement and replacement of infrastructure required to produce and deliver water to the customer while wastewater CIP focuses on infrastructure for the collection and treatment of wastewater. Chilled Water CIP provides for the expansion, improvement and replacement of infrastructure required to generate and deliver chilled water to customers in the downtown and Port San Antonio areas.
The 2024 CIP program totals $567.6 million and is summarized in the table below.
| 2024 Capital Improvement Program | |
|---|---|
| Core Business Area | 2024 Funding |
| Water Delivery | $299,524,877 |
| Wastewater | $237,461,023 |
| Water Supply | $17,501,750 |
| Chilled Water | $13,156,569 |
| Total | $567,644,219 |
Download CIP Project Data Sheets
The overall funding split for the 2024 water production and delivery and the wastewater collection and treatment program is 66% repairs and replacements and 34% additional capacity to support new growth and development.
The majority of SAWS’ CIP projects provide for routine, ongoing expenditures for major repair or replacement of infrastructure. Projects that are typically “one-time” in nature and involve the construction of new water production or wastewater collection/treatment facilities that enhance service delivery could be considered significant non-routine capital expenditures.
Water Delivery
The 2024 Water Delivery program totals $299.5 million for production facilities upgrades, infrastructure replacements and new water main extensions. Overall, the total level of CIP investment in Water Delivery infrastructure for 2024 is 41.0% higher than SAWS average annual investment in Water Delivery infrastructure over the last five years, reflecting the need to begin investing more in Water Delivery as the Wastewater Consent Decree capital requirements begin to lessen.
Wastewater
The 2024 Wastewater program totals $237.4 million. The Wastewater CIP amount includes $115.9 million (48.8% of the total), to support the rehabilitation and replacement of wastewater mains identified through the SAWS Sanitary Sewer Overflow Reduction Program (SSORP). These projects have been prioritized and scheduled to meet the requirements of SAWS Consent Decree with the federal government.
Water Supply
The 2024 Water Supply program totals $17.5 million and includes $10.0 million in overhead costs, which primarily cover direct costs associated with SAWS personnel that will support the ConnectH2O Program and $5.4 million for improvements to the Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) lime storage system.
Chilled Water
The 2024 Chilled Water program totals $13.2 million and includes $9.2 million for plant improvements for both the Downtown and Port San Antonio chilled water systems and $3.5 million for electrical system upgrades.