I’ll jump right in: It is morally wrong to grow a city through dependence on water from a distant ecosystem which will need that water in the future. Furthermore, the Los Angeles model of piping water from other basins hundreds of miles away is inherently unsustainable for the long term. This will become more evident as the southwest United States dries out over the next 50 years as a result of climate change.
The Vista Ridge Pipeline Project is a short-term boon for land developers who want to fill the fragile Hill Country with subdivisions. The native aquifers, rivers, and ecosystems cannot support heavy population growth. Vista Ridge will bring in water from an aquifer 150 miles away to enable as much sprawl as possible.
Who benefits from Vista Ridge? The sprawl merchants – all those businesses and governments which have grown to depend on ever-expanding population growth. But certainly not most current citizens of the metroplex, who will pay for it. And certainly not those in the Bastrop County area, whose groundwater is being appropriated against their will.
We should abide by the carrying capacity of our own semi-arid region with its huge Edwards Aquifer. That means saving the $3 billion to be spent on Vista Ridge. We should instead:
- Conserve the water we have by not wasting 40% of it on non-native plants like St. Augustine grass.
- Create a SAWS-sponsored program to make rainwater catchment the standard for every residential and commercial building.
- Develop, as other cities have, a storm water catchment system to provide abundant water and reduce flooding.
- Reduce per capita water use from 120 gallons per day to 60 or less.
- Use, when necessary, the desalination, storage, and re-use systems already developed by SAWS, which the public utility declared sufficient for future needs in February 2014.
We should also recognize that an official government policy of encouraging population growth will not add to the quality of life for our citizens.
San Antonio Water System is a publicly owned utility whose purpose is to provide water to the citizens of San Antonio, its owners, at a reasonable price. Vista Ridge transforms SAWS into a profit-seeking regional water purveyor.
Can Vista Ridge be stopped? Only if we convince the San Antonio City Council to stop it. That is one of the reasons the May 2017 General Election is so important.
It should be noted that SAWS and San Antonio’s water supply is not totally independent. I know, for example, that SAWS has already been purchasing loads of water from Neighboring water authorities (often piping from many miles away). The difference is this pipeline will be owned by SAWS.
Planning for the future requires smart long-term vision. This means BOTH new pipelines and the conservation minded reforms you propose.
Growth is inevitable. You can’t avoid it by digging your head in the sand and praying for consumption to reduce itself by 1/2. You have to actively fight for conservation reforms while also acquiring additional resources to satisfy future needs.
My apologies, let me correct – I don’t think SAWS will technically own it but will have greater access. Point still stands.