San Antonio Water System (SAWS), the city-owned water and sewer utility, is asking state regulators to put a proposed 990,000-gallon-a-day sewage plant that Lennar and a landowner plan for a subdivision in south Bexar County through a trial-style hearing on whether it is needed at all. The staff of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), the state environmental regulator, recommends granting that hearing, and the commissioners are scheduled to decide Nov. 18, according to records filed in the case.
The fight shows who controls growth on the edge of a big Texas city. Bexar County has no general power to zone land, so it cannot decide where a subdivision goes. A large subdivision outside a city’s sewer lines usually needs its own treatment plant, and that permit comes from TCEQ, not the county. A state permit decision can end up deciding whether a neighborhood gets built.
Lennar Homes of Texas Land and Construction and landowner Jose A. Saldana applied for permit WQ0016737001 to build the Saldana Wastewater Treatment Facility about 4,455 feet southeast of Hardy Road and Interstate 37. It would be built in three phases and could discharge up to 990,000 gallons of treated wastewater a day into West Lucas Creek. From there the water would flow through Lucas and Borrego creeks into the lower Atascosa River in the Nueces River basin, according to TCEQ’s executive director’s response.
SAWS says it owns land near the plant and along the discharge route and has a stake under the state’s regionalization law. That law, Section 26.0282 of the Water Code, lets the commission “deny or alter the terms and conditions of the proposed permit” based on need, including “the availability of existing or proposed areawide or regional waste collection, treatment, and disposal systems.” SAWS also says it has authority over sewer service within the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, the unincorporated land just outside the city limits where the city has only limited powers, the filing says.
The developers dispute both points. In their response, Lennar and Saldana told the commission that “SAWS or the City of San Antonio has expressly denied sewer service to Applicants at this time and its nearest WWTP and collection system is more than 7 miles from the proposed development.” They described SAWS’s nearby land as “an unmanned well field” with no residents to be bothered by odors, and they asked the commission to deny the hearing and issue the permit without one.
TCEQ’s executive director, the agency’s staff, recommends finding SAWS an affected party and sending the case to the State Office of Administrative Hearings, where administrative law judges would take evidence. The issues would include whether the commission should deny or change the permit based on need and the state’s policy favoring regional sewer systems, and whether the discharge protects water quality. The Office of Public Interest Counsel, which represents the public in TCEQ cases, made the same recommendation and proposed a 180-day hearing.
The same Nov. 18 agenda includes two more growth-edge sewage cases. In Bastrop, Utilities Inc. of Texas wants to expand a plant from 350,000 to 2 million gallons a day, and staff recommend a hearing for the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District. Near Liberty Hill in Williamson County, SV2 Alexander LLC and landowners Janice and Douglas Germann want to spray up to 131,000 gallons a day of treated wastewater on 37.6 acres of public green space in a new subdivision, and staff recommend a hearing for dozens of neighbors.
The Dispatch has explained what Texas counties can and cannot regulate and how the Hill Country grew faster than its rules. In these cases, the permit decision rests with a state agency rather than the county.
If the commission grants SAWS’s request, the permit would wait for the judges’ recommendation, likely in 2027. If it denies the request, the permit could be issued without a hearing.
Key facts
- TCEQ Docket 2026-1251-MWD, permit WQ0016737001: Lennar Homes of Texas Land and Construction and Jose A. Saldana; up to 990,000 gallons a day, south Bexar County near I-37 and Hardy Road.
- SAWS requested a contested case hearing on need and regionalization (Water Code 26.0282).
- TCEQ executive director and Office of Public Interest Counsel recommend granting it and referring the case to SOAH.
- Developers say SAWS’s nearest plant and lines are more than 7 miles away and SAWS has denied them service.
- Commission decision scheduled Nov. 18, 2026.