City of San Antonio - File #: 14-698

• File #: 14-698
• Type: Staff Briefing - Without Ordinance
• In control: City Council B Session
• On agenda: 4/9/2014
• Posting Language: A briefing on the $90 million Edwards Aquifer Protection Program sales tax venue project, to include presentation of the annual report of the program's 2013 activities and the recently completed sustainability study for the Aquifer Protection Program. [Peter Zanoni, Deputy City Manager; Mike Etienne, EastPoint & Real Estate Services; Francine Romero, Chair, Conservation Advisory Board]
• Indexes: CIMS Real Estate
• Related files: 13-833, 13-1194

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result
4/9/2014	1	City Council B Session

DEPARTMENT: Office of EastPoint and Real Estate


DEPARTMENT HEAD: Mike Etienne


COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide


SUBJECT: Edwards Aquifer Protection Program Annual Report


SUMMARY:
City staff and the Conservation Advisory Board (CAB) will provide a briefing to the City Council on the $90 million Edwards Aquifer Protection Program, a sales tax venue initiative approved by voters in November of 2010.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
In May of 2000, voters approved the first aquifer protection program, a 1/8-cent sales tax venue up to $45 million, for the acquisition of lands over the Edwards Aquifer, for parks and watershed protection. That program, referred to as "Proposition Three," ran from 2000 through 2005, was limited to Bexar County and acquired more than 6,500 acres as Natural Areas for the City of San Antonio.
A second program, the Edwards Aquifer Protection Venue Project, referred to as "Proposition 1," was passed by voters in 2005 and also funded with a 1/8th-cent sales tax up to the amount of $90 million. It served as an extension of that initial 2000 endeavor, although the scope was narrowed to watershed protection and, due to a change in the legislation, funds could be expended outside of Bexar County. The goal of that program was to obtain property rights by fee-simple purchase, conservation easements or donations of land over the sensitive zones of the Edwards Aquifer. Under the 2005 Proposition 1, over 90,000 acres of land over the aquifer were protected for water quality and quantity purposes.

In November of 2010, San Antonio voters passed an extension of the 2005 Edwards Aquifer Protection Venue Project, again authorizing the collection of $90 million through the 1/8th-cent sales tax to be used toward the acquisition of property interests over the sensitive zones of the Edwards Aquifer. The 2010 program, current underway, was also listed on the ballot as "Proposition 1," and is known as the Edwards Aquifer Protecti...