The background
Nirenberg on Feb. 12 said he filed an official request with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to deny homebuilder Lennar Homes’ application to build a wastewater treatment facility on their proposed Guajolote Ranch residential development in northwest Bexar County.
Lennar proposed building the single-home subdivision, Guajolote Ranch, on a 1,160-acre site along the Helotes Creek watershed about 5 miles northwest of San Antonio. According to permit request, the development could discharge 1 million gallons of sewage effluent into Helotes Creek each day.
Representatives for the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance said they oppose the development, saying it could adversely affect the environment because it would be located within the Edwards Aquifer contributing zone, the land that receives rainwater and channels it downstream toward the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, a significant source of drinking water for the San Antonio area.
The development and wastewater treatment facility would be also located within the Trinity Aquifer recharge area. Leaders from GEAA and San Antonio Water System, too, have voiced worries about consequences resulting from development of Guajolote Ranch.
TCEQ officials notified Lennar on Jan. 12, saying their permit request met requirements and was en route to a final approval, but leaders for the state agency have yet to formally meet to give the permit final approval or other type of action.
Lennar officials have not answered requests for comments or responded to calls to oppose the wastewater treatment facility permit.
Dig deeper
Nirenberg said he and fellow local leaders are concerned that the proposed development could result in water and soil contamination, which could produce negative effects for communities such as Hollywood Park, Shavano Park and Hill Country Village that rely on the Edwards and Trinity aquifers.
“This discharge, especially in the case of an accident, could result in significant damage to the Trinity and Edwards aquifer systems, and compromise the water availability of the San Antonio metropolitan area,” Nirenberg said in a memorandum to fellow city officials Feb. 12.
What’s next
Officials with the city, SAWS and GEAA said they are not sure when TCEQ could consider their formal request to contest the wastewater permit.
SAWS officials, too, have requested a contested case hearing on the permit.
