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San Antonio City Council Schedules Vista Ridge Public Hearing

SAWS

  

Four days after the San Antonio Water System voted unanimously to move forward with the Vista Ridge Pipeline contract, San Antonio City Council has scheduled a public hearing on the project.

The Vista Ridge pipeline would originate in Burleson County and be constructed along creekways over 140 miles in a southwest line through Bastrop, Austin, down I-35 and eventually to San Antonio. It would be developed by a consortium led by Abengoa, a company based in Seville, Spain. -

More than 50 community groups and environmental groups - and some municipalities in the path of the pipeline - have said they do not want it. Opponents call it a bad deal, a developers dream. Supporters say it is necessary for the economic growth of San Antonio and to ensure the city has water 30 years into the future.

Before the SAWS vote Monday to approve the contract, board chairman Berta Guerra told the packed boardroom that SAWS had held 61 public meetings on the project. He also said many of those meetings had been held during the day and he didn’t realize people would have been at work and might be unable to attend.

San Antonio City Council has scheduled a meeting for this Wednesday, October 8 in the evening, to allow more members of the public to speak. The meeting is set for 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers. 

NOTE: UTSA hosted an informational meeting the evening of Monday, Sept. 29, where a panel of four discussed the SAWS water proposal. http://nowcastsa.com/webcast-conversations-water

Eileen Pace is a veteran radio and print journalist with a long history of investigative and feature reporting in San Antonio and Houston, earning more than 50 awards for investigative reporting, documentaries, long-form series, features, sports stories, outstanding anchoring and best use of sound.