Further tightening the taps amidst persistent drought, the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) has initiated Stage 3 watering rules for the city. The city has been grappling with Stage 2 restrictions for the last two years and has faced general drought conditions for a substantial part of the preceding five years, as KENS 5 reported.
The escalation to Stage 3 does not alter the current watering times or hours, which remain consistent with Stage 2. However, starting after July 6, residential customers consuming in excess of 20,000 gallons within a billing cycle will be hit with a high-use surcharge, a move aimed at curbing excessive water use. In a statement obtained by FOX San Antonio, Karen Guz, SAWS' Vice President of Conservation articulated, "These changes encourage customers with very high outdoor use to reconsider their watering patterns in Stage Three."
This recent measure by SAWS, approved last week by the City Council, places a financial impetus behind conservation efforts. While the watering schedules based on the last digit of residents' addresses remain untouched – such as 0 or 1 on Monday and continuing sequentially through 8 or 9 on Friday – the focus is clearly on reducing consumption at the higher end of the spectrum. Historical data, according to FOX San Antonio, indicates that the surcharge would only affect the top five percent of residential water users. Similarly, commercial entities can expect surcharges tied to their level of irrigation usage.
Guz further emphasized the shift to Stage 3 as a preemptive action against even more stringent restrictions, saying, "It’s also important to know that this new system allows customers to continue to water once a week in Stage 3, pushing off the more severe twice-a-month watering rules to an emergency only Stage 4." Similar to hand-held hose usage, which is still permissible any day at any time, the crux of the strategy appears focused on penalizing volume rather than dictating schedule.
