Living Document·This plan is actively being developed with input from water engineers, community members, and policy experts.
Water Security Plan
Three objectives and four policy pillars to make San Marcos the most water-independent city in Texas — lowering your bills by keeping every drop we treat.
Three Objectives for Water Security
We're shifting our city's strategy from buying expensive raw water to keeping our water local — making new growth pay its own way to protect you from the high cost of inaction.
Water-Independent Growth
"Growth is coming, but it must pay for itself. We shouldn't have to raise utility rates on working families in San Marcos to buy expensive raw water for out-of-town developers."
We will institute Water Security Credits for new commercial and large-scale residential developments along the IH-35 corridor. Fast-tracked permitting and density bonuses are offered only if the developer integrates neighborhood-scale rainwater capture, permeable pavement, and dual-plumbing (gray-water) systems.
If a developer's site makes onsite water-neutrality physically impossible, they pay a Water Mitigation Fee. 100% of those fees go into supercharging the existing SMTX Rainwater Program — transitioning it from a post-purchase rebate to an upfront grant for legacy residents at zero out-of-pocket cost.
The Circular Water Economy
"We aren't going to go to war with Texas industry over the Rule of Capture; we are going to outsmart it."
Industrial users (like the meat processor) are drilling 900-foot wells into the Carrizo while the city takes on $240 million in debt for new water. Meanwhile, if everyone conserves water, the city loses the volumetric revenue needed to pay that debt. This is the Catch-22 of traditional water economics.
We will rapidly expand the city's purple pipe (reclaimed wastewater) infrastructure. Industrial wash-downs, cooling towers, data centers, and MUD landscaping don't need 1,000-year-old pristine drinking water. By selling highly treated reclaimed water to heavy industry at a competitive rate, we give them a drought-proof supply — so they don't have to drill into the Carrizo.
The "San Marcos River Standard"
"We cannot buy our way out of a water crisis. I will amend our city's master plan to make San Marcos the most water-independent city in Texas."
San Marcos recently adopted the Vision SMTX Comprehensive Plan. In my first 100 days, I will introduce a Water Security Amendment that formally mandates city staff must exhaust all options for rainwater capture, leak reduction, and localized reuse before proposing buying new, expensive raw water rights.
We can't legislate San Antonio, but we can out-innovate them. If San Marcos proves that rainwater capture and water reuse lead to the lowest utility bills in Central Texas, San Antonio will adopt our playbook out of pure economic self-interest — and that's how we ultimately protect the Edwards Aquifer and save our river for generations.
From Rebate to Mandate
Four policy pillars of the San Marcos Water Security Act — the implementation framework for achieving all three objectives while avoiding the unaffordable costs of inaction.
The "Rebate to Mandate" Commercial Code
No new commercial development will drain our city dry.
We are transitioning San Marcos from voluntary rebates to commercial mandates. All new large-scale commercial and multi-family developments will be required by zoning code to integrate "One Water" designs — specifically commercial rooftop rainwater capture and gray-water toilet flushing — to achieve baseline water neutrality.
If a developer builds a massive footprint, they must capture their water onsite or pay a massive "Water Mitigation Fee" to offset it elsewhere.
Supercharging the SMTX Rainwater Program
From post-purchase rebate to upfront grant — funded by developers.
San Marcos already has a capacity-based rainwater rebate program ($0.50–$1.00 per gallon of storage, capped at $5,000). But it only covers 50% of cost, completely pricing out working-class families who have to front thousands of dollars.
100% of Water Mitigation Fees from developers will supercharge this program — transitioning it to an upfront grant for legacy residents. We'll equip homes — particularly the historic gardening communities on the East Side — with full-scale cisterns and gray-water systems at zero out-of-pocket cost.
The Closed-Loop Municipal Aqueduct
Every drop that falls on San Marcos stays in San Marcos.
Because of the Endangered Species Act and prohibitive costs, we cannot inject water back into the Edwards Aquifer. Instead, we build modern street-level aqueducts to capture stormwater runoff, combine it with our treated wastewater, purify it to pristine standards at a new Advanced Water Purification Facility, and pump it directly back into our own water towers.
We treat it. We own it. We keep it. Treating water to injection standards is astronomically expensive — if taxpayers are paying to purify it, we shouldn't flush it to the Gulf. We keep it in a closed loop.
The "Whatever It Takes" Water Bond
Data-driven investment, not an arbitrary price tag.
Within the first 100 days, we will commission a comprehensive engineering study for the Closed-Loop Aqueduct system. We will then issue a data-driven Municipal Green Bond — utilizing the Texas Water Development Board's SWIFT low-interest loan program — for whatever the math says it costs to secure our water independence.
A bond is an investment in our own cheap, local water. Doing nothing is a blank check to regional water monopolies who will double or triple your rates over the next decade.
The Research Behind the Plan
Every pillar of this plan is validated by world-class research happening right here in San Marcos and across Texas. Expand any section for the details.
In late 2025, Dr. Robert Mace at TXST's Meadows Center published a landmark study titled "Reliable Rainwater Is Only a Roof Away." They developed the RAINFAL tool, which mathematically proves that a properly sized rainwater harvesting system can meet 100% of a household's indoor water needs anywhere in Texas — even during a historic "drought of record."
Furthermore, their modeling proved that even if every roof in Texas harvested rain, the reduction in aquifer recharge would be less than 1% — a negligible amount compared to what is lost to concrete pavement. This completely shields the plan from opponents claiming we are "stealing" water from the watershed.
UT researchers have published extensive economic models on decentralized sanitation and gray-water reuse. Their engineering studies prove that integrating decentralized rainwater catchment with gray-water reuse — like routing AC condensate and sink water to toilets — can reduce a facility's municipal water demand by 50% to 85%.
The UT Austin WaterHub is constructing a revolutionary 9,600 sq ft advanced water processing facility. Once fully operational, it will reduce UT's potable water consumption by 40% while cutting raw sewer discharge by up to 70% — using natural botanical processes and gravity instead of energy-intensive machinery. This "campus-scale" model is directly applicable to Texas State University.
San Marcos has already begun upgrading approximately 12,000 water meters and 25,000 electric meters to full Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) capability through a contract with Olameter. This is the foundation of any Net Zero Water utility.
In 2024, the city's TWDB water loss audit identified 22.1 million gallons of lost water — 4.6% of total system input. AMI enables near real-time leak detection, accurate billing (closing the 2% mechanical meter accuracy gap), and customer-facing portals that empower households to manage consumption.
El Paso Water's AMI case study: 60,000 residential AMI meters at $13.89M total cost projected to save 957 acre-feet/year from leak detection alone, plus 300 AFY from improved meter accuracy, while eliminating 6 meter-reading vehicles (27.6 metric tons CO₂ reduction).
The Edwards Aquifer is governed by the extremely strict Habitat Conservation Plan (EAHCP). Injecting treated water back into this system would trigger a multi-decade bureaucratic nightmare with the EPA, TCEQ, and US Fish & Wildlife over endangered species like the Texas blind salamander and fountain darter.
Instead, we pursue Direct Potable Reuse: capture stormwater runoff and municipal wastewater, run it through an Advanced Water Purification Facility, and pipe it directly back into the San Marcos municipal supply. If we spend taxpayer money to purify it, we keep it — not dump it underground or flush it to the Gulf.
El Paso leads the way: In early 2025, El Paso Water broke ground on the Pure Water Center, a first-of-its-kind DPR facility that treats wastewater to standards exceeding all federal drinking water regulations and distributes it directly into the municipal supply.
The Texas Water Trade Net Zero Water Toolkit (2024) reveals that commercial buildings with comprehensive capture, storage, and treatment systems can meet operational needs using only 10%–30% of the water services required by traditional buildings. Up to 95% of a commercial building's daily water demand doesn't require expensive potable water.
Credit Human HQ (San Antonio): Invested ~4.6% of total construction cost into sustainable water design. Achieved an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of more than 11% in just 13 years — the top financial performer in their real estate portfolio.
Brodie Oaks (Austin): Onsite reuse systems served multiple regulatory functions (stormwater, groundwater protection), freeing up six additional acres of highly valuable urban land for profitable development.
San Marcos' Utility Payment Assistance Program (UPAP) has awarded $75,522.79 to 247 households since October 2024, with 85% qualifying under strict low-income criteria. The program was expanded in May 2025 with four new agency partnerships.
The SAWS Model: San Antonio Water System provides the first 2,000 gallons of water per month at no volumetric charge — a critical lifeline rate protecting low-income users. Their data showed lower income doesn't equate to lower usage (more occupants, older plumbing). This model is directly applicable to San Marcos.
The fundamental principle: Long-term, aggressive water efficiency reduces the need for massive, debt-financed capital investments — suppressing the primary driver of compounding rate increases and advancing systemic affordability.
Texas voters approved Proposition 4 (2023), authorizing $20 billion in water investment. The 89th Legislature (2025) secured $1 billion/year from state sales tax proceeds for water projects via SB 7 and HJR 7 — earmarked for water loss, alternative sources, and pipe upgrades.
The TWDB Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) has provided over $300 million to Texas reuse projects. San Marcos is already positioned: TWDB's financial review highlighted the city's exceptional Debt Service Coverage Ratio of 3.41x (minimum required: 1.0x) and 1,417 days of cash on hand.
For commercial retrofits, Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing enables private water reuse projects without burdening the municipal balance sheet. The Water Finance Exchange (WFX) provides pre-development funding for complex financial engineering.
The Cost of Inaction
Why Bonding Pays for Itself
Compare the cost of investment against the cost of dependence on drying sources.
First 100 Days: The Engineering Study
Commission a comprehensive engineering study for the Closed-Loop Aqueduct system. Introduce the Water Sovereignty Amendment to the Vision SMTX plan. No arbitrary price tag — the bond amount will be driven by exactly what the engineering demands.
Years 1–3: Developer Revenue Begins
Water Mitigation Fees from new commercial development flow into the Rainwater Equity Program. Legacy residents receiving subsidized systems see an immediate reduction in their water bills. Purple pipe expansion begins generating industrial revenue.
Years 4–7: The Reuse Plant Goes Online
We drastically reduce purchasing water from GBRA and ARWA. While neighboring cities (Kyle, Buda) see rates rise to pay for deep wells into the Carrizo, San Marcos rates mathematically flatline.
Years 8–10+: Water Independence
Water Sovereignty Achieved. San Marcos produces its own water via rain capture and closed-loop reuse. We lease our unused Canyon Lake water rights to neighboring cities, using the revenue to lower local taxes.
Right now, we are treating our water and flushing it to the Gulf, while paying a premium to drain 500-year-old water out of the Carrizo Aquifer. It makes no sense. My campaign is about shifting from Rebate to Mandate. We are going to mandate that new commercial growth pays for its own water footprint, and use those funds to give legacy San Marcos residents true water independence. With the research generated right here at Texas State University and UT, we have the mathematical blueprint to stop managing our decline. We treat our water, we keep our water, and we turn San Marcos into the Water Capital of Texas.
Davis Jones
Candidate for Mayor, San Marcos TX
San Marcos Water Sovereignty Plan | davisjones.org/water-plan