San Antonio is the 7th largest city of America and has a population of over one million that is also growing rapidly. The city is quite dependant on daily pumping of water from Edward’s Aquifer, San Antonio Water System (SAWS). Most of the water that comes in the Aquifer originates from the rivers and creeks that are flowing through the area. A few years back, San Antonio was completely dependent on the Edward’s Aquifer. In the last few decades there is huge suburban growth in San Antonio and though the city is provided abundant and pure water as public supply by the Edward’s Aquifer yet there is a threat of water supply shortage in the future if the population kept on growing without any steps taken for alternative …show more content…
This system serves nearly 1.2 million consumers with the help of 91 wells and the system is acquiring six million gallons of water every day. These advance water sources cover nearly 8.5% of the water that is provided to the consumers (Benjamin, 2004). The cities that have large population and limited water resources have started seeking some alternative sources of water rather than relying complete on the fresh water resources, but San Antonio have not looked into this matter with some serious implications. Further, there is unequal distribution of the water supply to public in San Antonio and this actually created some problem for the city population in past when there was lack of proper sanitation system. According to Nirenberg, the minor sources of water are the Chino basin, San Antonio Canyon Watershed, Cucamonga basin as well as some rainfall water (Nirenberg, …show more content…
Diversification, on the other hand is quite costly and the expenses fall on the consumers increasing their bills but for efficient use of water and for future planning, residents can make investments for water to fulfill the needs of future. The San Antonio Water System should lead the drought management plans as well as some new sources must be discovered for water importation that should be affordable and recyclable as well. There must be planning for building reserves, diversification of the supplies and conservation of water. The most important suggestion is to save water in agriculture irrigation