Analysis of Four Governance Factors on Water Governing Agencies’ Efforts to Increase Water Reuse in the San Antonio Region

Abstract

Water reuse has the potential to supply nearly 24% of needed water in the San Antonio Region; however, the impact of securing water reuse sources and coordinating water governing agencies to do so should not be underestimated. Most of the literature on water reuse has focused on the technological, economic and social aspects of reuse. This research adds to the limited literature on water reuse governance by identifying key governance-related factors that contribute to increasing water reuse within the water planning regions of a rapidly growing city. Specifically, the research tested the impact of four governance-related hypotheses on efforts to increase water reuse by the water governing agencies in the San Antonio Region, defined as the Region L and Region K planning boundaries of the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). The impacts of frequency of communication with the TWDB, familiarity with the TWDB water strategy supplies (2017 Texas State Water Plan), the type of water governing agencies, and the scale of agencies were all variables tested against agencies’ efforts to increase water reuse in the San Antonio Region. A questionnaire was sent to water governing agencies in the San Antonio Region with specific questions to address the above hypotheses. The response rate to the questionnaire was 39.3%. A cross tabulation between each variable and the agency efforts to increase water reuse was calculated. Seven regression analysis models were calculated to test for statistical significance among the factors and their impact to increase water reuse efforts by agencies. Results show nearly 70% of agencies in the San Antonio Region have efforts to increase water reuse by only 0-10%. Among the four tested hypotheses, frequency in communication with the TWDB was statistically significant in increasing agencies’ efforts towards reuse. Results from testing these hypotheses will help water managers identify key governance-related factors that contribute to increased water reuse by water governing agencies.