Alliance requests review of water-service commitments and offers to coordinate preservation opportunities to protect the Edwards and Trinity Aquifers
Nov. 3, 2026 – The Scenic Loop-Helotes Creek Alliance today called on the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) Board of Trustees to examine and exercise its lawful authority to protect drinking-water resources threatened by the proposed Guajolote Ranch wastewater project in northwest Bexar County.
Specifically, alliance president Emory Bluhm asked the board to direct a review of whether SAWS has authority to pause new water-service commitments or extensions under its Guajolote Ranch Utility Services Agreement while these environmental risks are evaluated.
The alliance believes SAWS has that authority, citing an Aug. 5, 2024, court filing by SAWS’ attorney stating that the city has statutory authority under Texas Local Government Code §551.002 to protect the watersheds supplying drinking water to SAWS customers.
In addition, San Antonio’s Edwards Aquifer Protection Ordinance assigns SAWS responsibilities for administering and enforcing aquifer protection requirements.
Meanwhile, while the state has approved the project’s wastewater permit, it is under judicial review in district court. Pausing until all appeals are exhausted also makes sense, the alliance says, before the utility continues to spend taxpayer money to lay lines for a development that might not be built.
Lennar Homes wants to build 2,900 homes on 1,160 acres of Guajolote Ranch and build the wastewater plant that would release an average of 1 million gallons a day of treated sewage into the Helotes Creek watershed, which recharges up to 15% of the Edwards Aquifer.
“We believe protecting our drinking water is among government’s most fundamental responsibilities, and that this board has an important role in fulfilling that responsibility,” Bluhm said, in public comments during the board’s meeting today.
View Bluhm’s presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrrjM8v3S08
Scientific findings raise concerns about wastewater disposal
A 2020 study by Southwest Research Institute, funded through San Antonio’s Edwards Aquifer Protection Plan, evaluated the potential effects of additional wastewater systems in the Helotes Creek watershed.
The study’s modeling predicted that additional wastewater systems, regardless of disposal method, would significantly degrade the watershed and the quality of water recharging the Edwards Aquifer.
These findings raise important questions about whether regulatory permitting adequately addresses the long-term protection of the region’s drinking-water resources. And it more than warrants action under either the city’s statutory authority or aquifer protection ordinance, or both.
Read the complete Southwest Research Institute report.
Bluhm emphasized that residents have spent nearly six years pursuing scientific, regulatory and legislative avenues to protect the Helotes Creek watershed and the Edwards and Trinity Aquifers.
“Our alliance has done what citizens can do,” he told the board. “But citizens cannot exercise the authority entrusted to government.”
Extraordinary bipartisan opposition
Through sustained community organizing, the alliance helped bring together opposition from elected officials across party lines.
Four Texas state senators and 10 state representatives, of both parties, formally opposed the wastewater permit. Bexar County Commissioners Court unanimously adopted a resolution supporting rehearing of the permit. The San Antonio City Council unanimously opposed the proposed Guajolote Ranch Municipal Utility District.
Despite this extraordinary bipartisan opposition, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approved the wastewater permit, still being challenged.
Meanwhile, development-related authorizations have continued, including multiple Southern Edwards Plateau Habitat Conservation Plan (SEP-HCP) approvals, tree permits, floodwater and stormwater permits and transportation-impact mitigation plans through San Antonio processes, along with subdivision plat approvals through Bexar County.
These approvals involve different agencies and legal requirements. Collectively, however, they demonstrate that the development process continues despite the unresolved concerns raised by residents and elected officials.
The alliance maintains that residents have pursued the conventional avenues available to them and that additional preventive action now deserves consideration by institutions possessing governmental authority.
SAWS’ watershed-protection authority
As the SAWS attorney has asserted the city’s authority to protect watersheds supplying municipal drinking water, and the city’s Edwards Aquifer Protection Ordinance requires SAWS to administer and enforce aquifer-protection measures, the alliance respectfully asks SAWS to acknowledge these responsibilities. And to publicly clarify how its watershed-protection authority applies to Guajolote Ranch.
“We believe protecting our drinking water is a fundamental responsibility of government, and more specifically, this board,” Bluhm said.
The publicly available document identified as DRAFT — Utility Services Agreement USA-26994, describes Guajolote Ranch as being within SAWS’ water Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN), but outside its wastewater CCN.
For purposes of the alliance’s request, the draft is being treated as a working representation of the agreement’s executed terms, subject to confirmation against the signed version.
The alliance is not asking SAWS to disregard existing legal obligations. Rather, it seeks a prompt review of the agreement, applicable law and available preventive measures before environmental damage occurs.
The alliance also requested a written response and public board discussion identifying SAWS’ authority, available actions and intended next steps.
An opportunity for cooperation and preservation
The alliance emphasized its willingness to work constructively with SAWS, including exploring preservation opportunities that could provide long-term protection for sensitive watershed lands.
“Regulation determines whether the boxes have been checked. Stewardship asks whether the resource has been protected,” Bluhm told the board.
“Our alliance stands ready to work alongside SAWS, bringing together our community’s commitment and the preservation opportunities we can help coordinate with SAWS’ authority and expertise. Together, we can protect the drinking water our communities depend upon, today and for generations to come.”
Public documents and supporting information
Scientific research
Elected-official opposition
- Texas House delegation opposition letter
- Texas state senators’ opposition letter
- Senator Donna Campbell’s opposition letter
- Bexar County Commissioners Court resolution — December 16, 2025
- San Antonio City Council meeting proceedings
SAWS authority and water-service commitments
- SAWS August 5, 2024, TCEQ filing
- Texas Local Government Code §551.002
- SAWS Aquifer Protection information
- DRAFT — Guajolote Ranch Utility Services Agreement USA-26994
Development authorizations and public proceedings
- Alliance reporting on SEP-HCP approvals
- Alliance reporting on clearing and development activity
- SAWS Board meeting video archive
About the Scenic Loop–Helotes Creek Alliance
The Scenic Loop-Helotes Creek Alliance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 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.
Other releases at https://www.scenicloop.org/
CONTACTS:
Steve Lee, Scenic Loop-Helotes Creek Alliance, 210-415-2402 (text), media@scenicloop.org
Emory Bluhm, president, Scenic Loop-Helotes Creek alliance, emory@scenicloop.org
Randy Neumann, chair, Guajolote Ranch Steering Committee, Scenic Loop-Helotes Creek Alliance, 210-867-2826 (cell/text), uhit@aol.com