Dec. 18, 2025 – Bexar County Commissioners Court this week approved a resolution supporting a motion for rehearing on a wastewater permit for Lennar Corp.’s controversial proposed Guajolote Ranch development in northwest Bexar County – with a deadline looming Monday for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to act on the measure.
The resolution was signed by County Judge Peter Sakai and commissioners Justin Rodriguez, Grant Moody and Tommy Calvert, urging TCEQ to grant the motion “in the interest of public health, environmental protection and regulatory integrity.” Calvert and Moody, commissioner of Precinct 3 where the development would be located, jointly presented the resolution. Precinct 1 Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores wasn’t present.
Florida-based Lennar wants to build 2,900 homes on 1,160 acres of Guajolote Ranch, west of the intersection of Scenic Loop and Babcock roads, and discharge an average of 1 million gallons a day of treated sewage into the Helotes Creek watershed that directly recharges the Trinity Glen Rose Aquifer, the water supply for the immediate area, and contributes up to 15% of the total recharge of the Edwards Aquifer, principal water source for about 2.5 million people across multiple counties.
“Approving a single wastewater permit should not endanger the water of millions of families across South Texas,” according to the resolution, a copy of which will be forwarded to the TCEQ and to “relevant state legislators, and other stakeholders to affirm Bexar County’s commitment to safeguarding its natural resources and the health of its residents.”
On Nov. 24, attorneys for the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance and the city of Grey Forest, which had contested the permit, filed the 115-page motion for rehearing after TCEQ commissioners voted to approve the permit in October.
If the TCEQ doesn’t respond within 55 days of the Oct. 28 signed order approving the permit – a period that would end this coming Monday, Dec. 22 – the decision stands, unless that time is extended. At that point, opponents would have another 30 days to appeal in Travis County district court, which could trigger prolonged court proceedings.
The new resolution follows a Dec. 2 letter sent to TCEQ by State Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, that also supported the motion for rehearing. Her district would include the proposed Guajolote Ranch development.
View the full resolution, here: https://www.scenicloop.org/wp-content/uploads/Bexar-County-Commissioners-Court-Resolution-2025-12-16.pdf
It says Bexar County Commissioners Court “recognizes the critical importance of protecting the Edwards Aquifer and associated water systems that serve as primary drinking water sources for millions of Texans, including residents of Bexar County,” and that the proposed permit “has raised substantial concerns regarding the environmental impact of wastewater discharge into the Helotes Creek watershed.”
Chief of those concerns, it notes that “findings from the Southwest Research Institute indicate that such discharge would degrade the recharge quality of the Edwards Aquifer, and these findings remain unrefuted in the scientific community.”
Notably, and counter to false claims by the San Antonio Water System, “the hydrologic connectivity between the Trinity Glen Rose and Edwards Aquifers is well documented and elevates the potential impact of this permit from a localized issue to one of statewide public health and environmental significance,” according to the resolution.
It hits at “inconsistencies” between TCEQ’s Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) program, under which the Guajolote Ranch permit was approved, and its Edwards Aquifer Protection Program. That warrants “clarification to ensure regulatory alignment, transparency and scientific integrity, particularly in sensitive karst regions where surface and groundwater pathways are well established,” the resolution says.
Therefore, it concludes, the motion for rehearing “represents a necessary procedural mechanism to correct deficiencies in the permitting process, reassess the technical record, and ensure compliance with all applicable state and federal environmental standards.”
It resolves that Bexar County Commissioners Court formally supports the motion for rehearing “and urges the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to grant said motion in the interest of public health, environmental protection, and regulatory integrity.”
The Scenic Loop-Helotes Creek Alliance is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) group representing the largest neighborhood by square mile recognized by the San Antonio Neighborhood & Housing Services Department, a wide corridor along Scenic Loop Road from Bandera Road to north of Babcock Road.
Scenic Loop-Helotes Creek Alliance contacts:
Randy Neumann, SL-HCA steering committee chair, 210-867-2826, uhit@aol.com
Steve Lee, 210-415-2402, text; media@scenicloop.org