Water-Energy Partnership in San Antonio, TX

In yet another display of the intrinsic connections between water and energy, San Antonio Water System, which provides water to over 1 million customers in Texas, has joined the Energy Research Alliance at the University of Texas at San Antonio to "define and implement new and alternative strategies for the development of energy technology."

The new partnership was announced in early November through a press release and holds the promise that some innovative solutions will be developed to avoid harming water resources for the sake of energy development:

Steve Clouse, chief operating officer for SAWS, said, "Working together to find new synergies in solutions to essential issues like water and energy is essential to the well-being of San Antonians. Our ratepayers depend on groups like this working together to find the most economical, efficient methods. We welcome the opportunity."

"The energy challenges that our world faces today and will be facing in the future must be addressed now by dedicated researchers with a broad array of skills and specialties," said Robert Gracy, UTSA`s vice president for research. "Regionally, we were highly motivated to join Southwest Research Institute and CPS Energy in developing the Energy Research Alliance of San Antonio. The addition of San Antonio Water System to the partnership will certainly catalyze our progress. Together, we will be able to develop energy solutions that each individual organization could not accomplish by working on its own."

"We welcome SAWS as a new partner in the Energy Research Alliance of San Antonio," said Danny Deffenbaugh, vice president of the Mechanical and Materials Engineering Division at Southwest Research Institute. "Adding our local water supplier to the Alliance reflects the critical relationship between water and energy."

Hopefully this endeavor will be fruitful, and while it is unclear what outcomes are expected from this partnership, it is nonetheless encouraging to see that water and energy interests are breaking down their respective silos and collaborating together. Partnerships such as this will help communities better understand the relationships between water and energy, and will hopefully curtail looming conflicts between these two vital resources.