Submit irrigation plans for your irrigation system
Before installing a permanent irrigation system, you’ll need to submit your plans to SAWS for review.
Submit irrigation plans for all single-family construction in the SAWS service area and on all commercial irrigation installs outside the San Antonio City Limits.
Use this checklist to ensure irrigation system plans are correct and complete prior to review.
Submit Submit Irrigation PlanComplete the form and upload irrigations system plans.
Begins in 2025
Texas has some of the most comprehensive rules for irrigation system design and operation in the United States. Stamped plans are required by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for every irrigation system constructed in Texas.
In 2024, the SAWS Board of Trustees approved changes to the utility service regulations and watering rules that require an irrigation plan to be submitted to SAWS for every irrigation system installed within the SAWS service area* beginning Jan. 1, 2025. These changes were also approved by the San Antonio City Council and added to the San Antonio water conservation ordinance.
*Plans for commercial irrigation systems constructed inside the San Antonio city limits should continue to be submitted for review to City of San Antonio Development Services per local regulations.
Plan Review Process
Irrigation plans will be reviewed by licensed irrigators and licensed irrigation inspectors within the SAWS Conservation department using a checklist of TCEQ requirements. Plans will be approved or returned with feedback on the plan deficiencies that don’t meet TCEQ requirements. Approvals and feedback will be sent via email to the irrigator and the system owner (builder or homeowner) within five (5) business days, but usually sooner.
Irrigation plans are to be submitted via online form in any file format. This is not a permitting program and is separate from the City of San Antonio requirement to pull irrigation permits via Development Services.
For more information on the irrigation plan review program, please contact SAWS Conservation at (210) 704-7283 or email cnsrv-inspection@saws.org.
Submit Irrigation Plan
Operational Inspections coming in 2026
SAWS Conservation will begin operational inspections of newly constructed irrigation systems beginning Jan. 1, 2026. These inspections will include assessment of soil depth required under the installed sod as well as other items on the system. Soil depth of 4 inches or more is essential for improved grass survival in San Antonio.
Per the 2006 update to the San Antonio city ordinance, all landscapes require 4 inches of topsoil containing at least 6% organic matter installed under the sod. Conservation staff will be working with irrigators and builders in early 2025 to schedule test inspections to verify proposed site inspection procedures. If your entity is interested in working with SAWS on the operational inspection process, please contact Conservation at cnsrv-inspection@saws.org or (210) 704-7283. Stay tuned to this page for more information and a proposed operational inspection checklist.
