Dec. 26, 2025 – “The attorney for the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance and the city of Grey Forest informed us that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality did not act on the motion for rehearing of the case contesting a wastewater permit for Lennar Corp.’s proposed Guajolote Ranch development. And so, it was overruled.
However, this is not over. We intend to support an appeal to state district court by the end of January. And as several San Antonio city council members, county commissioners and state legislators have affirmed the importance of local control, no matter how TCEQ fails us, we are vigorously fighting a proposed municipal utility district (MUD) for Guajolote Ranch. A San Antonio Planning Commission hearing on the issue is set for Jan. 16 at 9 a.m., with a city council vote expected Feb. 5.
TCEQ rejected the only accepted science showing what this development would do, a comprehensive hydrological study by Southwest Research Institute funded by the city and concluding that additional wastewater systems from residential development in the Helotes Creek watershed would ‘significantly degrade the watershed and the quality of water recharging the Edwards Aquifer.’
And TCEQ ignored the will of Texans, including 18 legislators and local elected officials of both parties who wrote to them urging a rehearing or permit denial, more than 1,400 residents who wrote in opposition, about 300 who marched in opposition at the ‘Million Gallon March’ and jammed hearings here and in Austin, and more than 1 million who viewed or commented on Instagram or Nextdoor. Those people vote.
Instead, TCEQ didn’t respond at all during the time allotted, ended Dec. 22, to the 115-page motion for rehearing documenting how they had violated constitutional or statutory provisions and made decisions outside its authority. Despite new leadership, they reverted to policies and procedures under which Texas has led the nation in toxic discharges, releasing 16.7 million pounds of pollutants into its own lakes, rivers and streams in 2020 alone, according to EPA data.
At the outset, we said that the larger story goes to the very heart of TCEQ’s purpose. Are they there to ‘protect our state’s public health and natural resources consistent with sustainable economic development,’ as their own mission statement says, or are they there to help developers check boxes?
Sadly, Texans now have their answer.”
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.