‘We can’t build the way we used to’: SAWS COO calls for a new utility playbook

By Mary Holcomb, Lead Digital Editor

(UI) — Speaking during the keynote address at the Underground Infrastructure Conference (UIC) on Jan. 27 at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center in San Antonio, Andrea Huizar Beymer, executive vice president and chief operating officer of San Antonio Water System (SAWS), warned that utilities nationwide must fundamentally change how they plan, build and maintain infrastructure as growth, aging assets and workforce pressures collide. 

Beymer, one of the highest-ranking women in the U.S. water and wastewater industry, oversees operations for one of the nation’s largest municipal systems, serving roughly 2 million customers across more than 13,000 miles of water and wastewater pipelines. In her keynote, she framed the industry’s challenge bluntly: demand is accelerating faster than traditional utility models can handle.

“Texas in particular has seen extraordinary growth over the last five years,” Beymer said. “That growth brings tremendous opportunity, but it also brings challenges especially for utilities that have to keep up and deliver the level of service customers expect.”

San Antonio, she noted, has ranked among the nation’s fastest-growing metro areas since 2020, with development shifting toward denser, more complex urban projects. For SAWS, that means managing a highly complex system, nearly 7,900 miles of water mains, more than 6,000 miles of sewer mains and 59 pressure zones driven by elevation changes of up to 1,500 feet.

“Most of the time, people don’t realize what we do because it’s underground,” Beymer said. “They don’t realize what it takes to make sure water is flowing every single day.”

Planning early or paying later

A central theme of Beymer’s address was the value of early investment and long-term planning, particularly in water supply diversification. In the late 1990s, SAWS relied heavily on the Edwards Aquifer, a federally regulated and highly constrained resource.

“At that time, major industries were looking to leave San Antonio because they didn’t see a reliable water future,” she said. “Our community made the decision to invest early.”

That early action helped SAWS develop one of the most diversified water supply portfolios in Texas, including recycled water, aquifer storage and recovery, desalination and large-scale integration projects designed to secure supply for decades.

The same long-term mindset, Beymer said, drove SAWS’ approach to wastewater infrastructure. San Antonio was among the first Texas cities to enter a federal consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice and EPA, a process she acknowledged was difficult but transformative.

“We met our milestones and significantly reduced sewer spills,” she said, noting spill rates dropped from roughly 10 per 100 miles to fewer than three. “That reflects a real commitment to operational excellence and environmental protection.”

The pressures facing utilities nationwide

Looking ahead, Beymer outlined a convergence of pressures facing utilities across the country: aging infrastructure, regulatory complexity, extreme weather, workforce shortages, cost escalation and supply-chain uncertainty.

SAWS alone plans to invest more than $3.2 billion in capital infrastructure over the next five years, much of it tied to wastewater treatment, non-revenue water reduction and aging pipeline replacement.

“We’re all competing for the same contractors, the same materials and the same skilled labor,” she said. “And the question becomes: how do we navigate this together?”

Her answer centered on four priorities: innovation, environmental stewardship, cost effectiveness and quality.

“Innovation isn’t optional anymore,” Beymer said. “From advanced condition assessment tools to real-time system monitoring to trenchless construction techniques, it’s the only way we can keep pace with demand.”

She emphasized the growing role of data, automation and artificial intelligence to identify system weaknesses before failures become emergencies and before costs escalate.

A call to the industry

Beymer closed by stressing that no single utility or sector can solve these challenges alone.

“It’s going to take everyone — utilities, engineers, contractors, suppliers and manufacturers — working together,” she said. “What we do is life-sustaining. Together, we can build systems that are resilient, sustainable and ready for the future.”

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