Calvin Finch spoke at a meeting of the Kendall County Bar Association on March 27 at The Creek Restaurant. Photo by Linda Byrne

San Antonio has an ample water supply despite a drought and rapid growth, a spokesman for the San Antonio Water System said last week, and the future looks rosy.

Dr. Calvin Finch, water resources manager for SAWS, addressed the Kendall County Bar Association on March 27 on regional water supply issues.

According to Finch, San Antonio manages its water supply exceedingly well and the city therefore uses less water per capita than any large city in the western United States. Over the last two decades, demand has been reduced 40 percent through conservation efforts.

“We don’t use any more water than San Antonio did in the early ‘80s,” Finch said.

Discouraging waste has had a huge impact.

“That means no sprinklers during the day, no leaks or water running down the street,” Finch said.

SAWS also has replaced high-water-use toilets with more efficient dual-button models for customers and businesses who request them. The new toilets are imported from Australia and feature two speeds for flushes using very little water.

“It is less expensive to conserve the water we have than to find new water resources,” Finch said.

San Antonio got a boost when the 80th Texas Legislature raised the available water San Antonio can pump from the Edwards Aquifer.

“We got 20,000 acre feet of new water from the Edwards last year. The aquifer is our most inexpensive source next to conservation,” Finch said.

SAWS also is aggressively pursuing new water resources and innovative water management. These include:

n Canyon Lake water purchases

n Aquifer storage recovery program, whereby Edwards Aquifer water is stored in the Carrizo Aquifer in South Bexar County. “We can pump water back out when demand is high and access to Edwards water is low,” Finch said.

n Desalination project. Finch said it is estimated that there are 300 million acre feet of brackish groundwater in the San Antonio region. If SAWS can develop a method to make the water potable, the region would have an ample supply for years to come.

For other parts of Texas, the future is not so rosy.

“The water shortage across the state is going to be very severe in the future,” Finch said. “We’re ahead because of droughts and the Legislature limiting the Edwards supply,” which sparked education and conservation that is second-nature now.