When will Schertz and Cibolo need more water?

Windward quotes Texas Water Development Board projected shortages of 93 acre-feet in 2050, 738 in 2060, 1,476 in 2070 and 2,321 in 2080. The consultant describes 2050 as the earliest point of need and 2060 as a more realistic starting point. Those projections explain why a city with more annual supply than recent use can still plan for another source decades from now.

Schertz’s projection puts its need at approximately 2,500 additional acre-feet around 2070. That is an additional-supply estimate for Schertz, not a forecast that Cibolo will have 2,500 acre-feet available to transfer. The distinction matters when officials compare a regional asset with each city’s own future demand.

Cibolo figures are from Windward’s summary, which quotes TWDB shortage projections; the Schertz figure is from its own future-supply attachment. The measures are not interchangeable.

Who pays, and what would they get?

A separate full-buildout scenario in the Cibolo summary assumes 12,950 connections and annual use of 3,750 to 4,800 acre-feet. Under that scenario, the city could need up to 1,000 additional acre-feet a year. Full buildout is a scenario, not a dated forecast for 2050 or 2070. Combining it with the decade-by-decade shortage figures would make the future need look more certain than the documents support.

For customers, the useful financial test is whether a particular offer changes the cost or reliability of future water service. Annual supply and demand figures cannot answer that question alone. A bill calculation would also need transaction terms, the water rights and delivery obligations involved, and the way any proceeds or payments would enter each city’s rate plan.

What has to happen next

The posted agenda schedules discussion of a transaction framework and a timeline for reviewing offers. Those steps can turn a broad asset question into a specific proposal that residents can examine. The next records to watch are the workshop minutes and any CVLGC offer-review or transaction documents; the official agenda gives readers the starting point for checking what officials were asked to discuss.