San Antonio Water

Many of us have been to water parks/ theme parks and probably never thought about how much water is being used. I especially have been intrigued with the fact that San Antonio has a Seaworld, because the other cities that have one are San Diego and Orlando. San Diego and Orlando both are by many beaches and land of water compared to San Antonio. So to me I felt that San Antonio having a Seaworld would have a major impact on our city water supply. How much water does Seaworld consume and or try to conserve? I talked to Melissa, an educator at Seaworld, and she discussed with me that several of Seaworld’s management had already developed the park’s Water Conservation Plan and had submitted the plan to the San Antonio Water System.
During times when the rains are plenty and the Edwards Aquifer is full, San Antonio aggressively pumps the water out and stores it forty miles away in a sand formation called the Carrizo. Nobody knows how much water the Carrizo could ultimately store, perhaps as much as sixty-five billion gallons. Now, in the midst of this devastating drought, the Carrizo’s massive pumps are sending this rainy day water back to the thirsty city from whence it came. I talked with Jeff, director of production, and he stated that he feels it’s a huge benefit and that it cuts down on the amount of water that San Antonio uses from the Edwards during a critical time , which is good for the entire region. San Antonio’s approach to its water has saved it in the past but like Wlliam Alley discusses in his essay, Tracking U.S. Groundwater, no one knows how much water is actually available. Its all estimates. Its almost impossible to keep record of and exact figure when it comes to water consumption. Alley goes to explain how the aquifer can be estimated more accurately than global ground water. So the Carrizo obtains most of its water from rain. If the rain don’t come, San Antonio and the rest of Texas are going to learn what the word “drought” really