With degrees and background in engineering, Andrea Huizar Beymer is used to working in a field where people like her are few and far between.
But now Beymer, announced Friday as the San Antonio Water System’s new chief operating officer, will be taking her uniquely San Antonio perspective to new heights. By stepping into her new role, the former senior vice president of engineering and construction for SAWS is now the highest-ranking Hispanic female at a public water utility in the nation.
“I’m definitely excited. It is really a welcome opportunity,” Beymer told the San Antonio Report. “I’ve been … in this role for six years, and I’ve very much enjoyed it. It had some challenges, that’s for sure — but now I’ll get to touch on more of the operational group as well.”
She replaces longtime SAWS executive Steve Clouse, who retired from SAWS for the second time at the end of 2022.
As COO, Beymer will help run day-to-day operations, including overseeing SAWS infrastructure improvement projects, its employees, and helping plan for a growing San Antonio by working with SAWS’ other executives to create long-range plans.
Due to the extreme drought Bexar County is facing, Beymer said she’s seen the strain on both the SAWS system, as well as on its employees over the last few years.
In her new role, Beymer said she hopes to bring SAWS fresh viewpoints, especially as climate change brings with it more extreme weather, like the record-breaking heat the last two summers have brought.
“This summer, I think certainly showed us things are changing, whether we want to accept it or not,” she said. “We’ve talked about resiliency coming from Winter Storm Uri … but I think now we need to look at resiliency from a different perspective if we’re going to continue on this trend of having these hot summers.”
Deep San Antonio roots
Beymer, a San Antonio native, has roots tracing back not only to the Battle of the Alamo but also to some of the first Hispanics who came to the area from Spain’s Canary Islands.
Her ancestor, Pedro Huizar, is credited with the creation of the Rose Window at Mission San Jose in 1775.
Her family line also includes Alamo defenders such as Gregorio Esparza and survivor Ana Salazar Esparza.
“My family has deep roots in San Antonio,” she said. “San Antonio is in my blood.” Today, the 49-year-old lives with her husband, Richard, and their two children, Jane and William.
Beymer, a 1992 Incarnate Word High School graduate, earned a bachelor of science in civil engineering from Texas A&M University and a master of science in civil engineering with an emphasis in water resources from UTSA.
She began working at SAWS in 1997 and has helped the utility execute several of its biggest initiatives, including growing the nation’s largest direct recycled water program, launching SAWS’ aquifer storage and recovery project, opening a new operation center and integrating the Vista Ridge water line into SAWS water sources, according to a SAWS press release.
SAWS President and CEO Robert Puente said it’s been rewarding to see Beymer grow through her many roles at SAWS, which have included being a senior executive management analyst, director of engineering and chief of staff.
“For all of the employees, I think they see that one of our own made it, and I think everybody’s very proud of that,” Puente said.
Puente said Beymer was chosen for the COO position because she has helped SAWS through several difficult growth decisions in recent months, including its recent decision to change its service area and its latest strategic plan. She’s also been tasked with overseeing the rollout of SAWS’ most recent capital improvement program, which includes $2.5 billion in infrastructure projects.
Big shoes to fill
The executive Beymer will be replacing held the COO job for 14 years. Clouse initially retired from the water utility in 2018 but came out of retirement just 11 months later after his successor departed for the private sector.
He ultimately helped lead the utility through the coronavirus pandemic and the fallout from Winter Storm Uri in February 2021.
Clouse, who worked at SAWS for more than 30 years, is the namesake of one of SAWS’ water recycling centers and was known as an institution within the water utility.
Beymer, who worked under Clouse for much of her career, said she recognizes she has big shoes to fill.
“I’ve been at SAWS for over 25 years, and he has been a mentor and a friend, and a leader,” she said. “What I hope to do is to just carry on from where he left. I’m not Steve, and I am going to handle things a little bit differently, but he has done such a great job of bringing us to this point with his innovation and his creative thinking.”
As a Hispanic woman, Beymer said she brings a unique viewpoint to SAWS leadership.
“I think it’s very important to have that perspective,” she said. “I think as women, we bring a different perspective to the table than a man does, and I think it’s important to have that side and for women to have those opportunities.”
