One Aquifer, Five Projects
The Carrizo Aquifer is a vast aquifer that stretches from the Rio Grande in South Texas to parts of Arkansas and Louisiana supplying water to more than 60 Texas counties. SAWS has five projects that produce Carrizo Aquifer water in and around Bexar County.
Local Carrizo Project
The Local Carrizo Project is a SAWS owned supply located on H2Oaks property in Southern Bexar County and began production in 2008. While SAWS can access up to 9,900 AFY* of groundwater, the volume of water produced will vary year to year depending on the needs of SAWS customers.
Regional Carrizo
The Regional Carrizo Project is comprised of two projects: water purchased from Schertz-Seguin Local Governmental Corporation and the SAWS Buckhorn well-field.
SAWS purchases water from the Schertz-Seguin Local Government Corporation (SSLGC). This project began in November of 2013. It was an innovative and cost-saving infrastructure-sharing arrangement with the SSLGC. SAWS is proud of the mutual benefits that this major public-public partnership has made possible.
The SAWS owned Buckhorn Well-field Project is located in Gonzales County and is permitted to produce up to 11,688 AFY. The wellfield began producing water in January 2014.
CRWA Wells Ranch Project
The CRWA Wells Ranch Project is a water supply project owned and developed by the Canyon Regional Water Authority (CRWA). SAWS by agreement, can purchase up to 2,800 AFY from the Carrizo Aquifer in Gonzales and Guadalupe Counties. This volume is blended with surface water from Lake Dunlap and distributed to SAWS.
Vista Ridge Project
The Vista Ridge Project, the largest non-Edwards Aquifer supply in SAWS history, came on line in April 2020. Approximately 30 percent (approximately 15,000 acre-feet per year) of the water produced will be sourced from the Carrizo Aquifer. (Reference the Simsboro Aquifer section for additional information on the Vista Ridge Project).
Related
Vista Ridge Pipeline
Water from the Carrizo aquifer makes up 30 percent of the water produced for the Vista Ridge Pipeline, the largest non-Edwards Aquifer supply in our city’s history.
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Terms
Firm yield – The volume of water which can be produced from a defined source during a repeat of the drought of record under existing regulatory, legal, contractual, hydrological or infrastructure constraints
AFY – 1 acre-foot per year = 325,851 gallons per year