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Flooding is to Bexar County what earthquakes are to San Francisco, San Antonio District 8 City Councilman Reed Williams told residents filling a conference room Jan. 5 at John Igo Library.

“The flood-control issue is one that keeps coming up in San Antonio, a city so susceptible to flooding,” he said.

“Flooding is a multiple-layer problem in this city. It's not handled badly. There are just a lot of people involved. It's a countywide task.”

Williams assembled officials from entities including the city, Bexar County, the San Antonio River Authority and San Antonio Water System to talk to residents of the flood-prone areas.

Because of development during the past two decades, the task at hand, they said, was to keep the water on the ground where it falls, with the first line of defense being onsite and regional detention, then conveyance through the creeks.

“The problem here is to control development and to honor the rights of developers, who bought property,” said Robert Browning, chief storm water engineer with the city. “They need to demonstrate their development will cause no adverse effects.”

Because the city, county and SARA work together as a partnership, known as Bexar Regional Watershed Management, a lot of duplication is eliminated, Reed said, adding that some 43 to 45 capital improvement projects will be selected over the next 10 years.

The Hausman Road project is in the works now, he told the residents, who lived near that major road that connects them to Interstate 10 on one side and Loop 1604 on the other,

The project includes a portion of the road west of Babcock Road to Huntsman Road, the main road for the Hunters Chase and Parkwood neighborhoods.

The county plans to construct three bridge structures to eliminate low-water crossings. The completed project will feature four lanes and a sidewalk, with a parcel of land donated to the city's linear park system, according to county representative Naoka Ikuma. The project is expected to start in September and take 18 months to complete.

“This is a good project,” Reed said. “It will help us on Hausman, and we need help really quick.”

Development at the burgeoning University of Texas at San Antonio was of particular concern to the residents who, for the most part, live near the campus, which has grown by leaps and bounds and is now, in their opinion, encroaching on their neighborhoods.

“UTSA is the state, and the state trumps the city,” Reed said. “But we do what we can and we are keeping in touch. I've just had a meeting with them.”

He told residents they need to check the recently updated Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps, which will go into effect later this year. Reed said smaller cities in the metropolitan area are expected to adopt the maps through ordinances by December.

“The protest period is over, and homeowners are looking at an expanded floodplain,” Reed said.

“Some people think they should be in the floodplain, while some people think they shouldn't. These new maps should bring some people out of the floodplain, so residents need to check this.”

Lenders may require the purchase of flood insurance if a house is in the new floodplain. The development during the past two decades has caused changes to the flood plain delineation, especially along Interstate 10 and Boerne Stage Road, Hausman and Old Babcock and DeZavala roads and West Fork Olmos Creek, according to Arias.

“The lines changed because the maps were pretty old,” Arias said. “The terrain changed because of development.”

Watershed Improvement Advisory Committee representative Walter Ague said even without development, flooding would be a big issue in San Antonio.

“Water flows south as fast as it can, even without the concrete. If UTSA builds a large parking lot, we'd better get pontoons. We have to explain to the south side that when Noah is in the ark, he's heading south,” Ague said.

“We have to solve the problem of the gush of water from the north to the south so we don't flood them out. Just remember, it's going to rain and, as taxpayers, there's no free lunch. We'll need more infrastructure at some point in time.”