Two Summers in a Row, Flooding Tied to San Antonio’s Water Main Project Has Swamped Southeast Side Yards, and the $8.9 Million Job Runs to 2027

On Pennystone Avenue, on San Antonio’s Southeast Side, the alley behind the houses has turned into a river twice in a little over a year. Neighbors told KSAT that water ran down the alley in July 2025 and again this August, spread across their backyards and, in some cases, got inside their homes.

The San Antonio Water System told the station the problem involves an aging 8-inch cast-iron water main in that alley, a line that is part of the utility’s Highland-Goliad Water Main Replacement Project. That project is budgeted at about $8.9 million and is not scheduled to wrap up until late 2027.

Front yards, backyards and a game room

Alfred Godoy told KSAT the water flooded both his front and back yards, ran under his house and came back out near his driveway. He cleaned up the mess himself.

His neighbor Rosie Montemayor, who has lived in her home for 25 years, said she never had trouble before the first flood. This summer’s water was worse, she told the station: “This year was even worse than the first time it happened.” It reached a game room and a back bedroom, ruining shoes and furniture, including antique pieces.

Montemayor said she paid more than $500 out of her own pocket to have the residue power-washed away. She puts the total damage in the thousands of dollars once replacing the game-room tile is counted.

Another neighbor, Sylvia Servantes, said the water in the alley rose high enough to reach her driveway and cut her off from her own backyard. Her son, she said, was frightened by it.

Residents also described a smell, and several told KSAT they believed the water may have been wastewater because of its color and odor. The station’s report did not include any test results confirming what was in the water.

What the replacement project covers

According to the SAWS project page for Job 22-4005, the Highland-Goliad project targets a neighborhood northwest of Goliad Road and East Southcross Boulevard that has a history of water main breaks. Crews are installing about 17,500 feet of new water main, and the work moves water pipes and meters out of the alleys and into the streets.

The utility describes the job as open-cut construction, meaning streets are dug up and repaved afterward, with detours and lane closures along the way. The page lists the estimated budget at $8,900,000 and a schedule that runs from roughly April 2026 to December 2027. KSAT reported the expected completion as November 2027.

Pennystone Avenue is one of the streets in the project area, along with South Walters Street, McDougal Avenue, Cravens Avenue, Glamis Avenue and Waugh Street, according to KSAT. The project page’s Nov. 13 update said crews had just finished tying the new main into the existing system at Cravens and Waugh and were moving on to Cravens and Gevers.

The first flood in July 2025 came before construction started in April 2026, and SAWS did not tell KSAT whether the August flooding came from a break in the old alley main or from the construction work itself. What the utility did say is that the line behind these homes is one of the old mains the project exists to replace.

Claims, and the limits on them

Some of the residents have filed claims with SAWS asking to be reimbursed for property damage. The utility told KSAT it is working with them but did not say how those claims are being handled.

The SAWS claims page lays out the general rules. Anyone who believes the utility caused property damage through work it did, or failed to do, has 90 days under the City of San Antonio Charter to submit written notice, and SAWS says it cannot start investigating until it receives that notice. The utility asks for estimates, photos, diagrams, bills and receipts, and tells claimants to keep that evidence until the claim is resolved.

The same page is blunt about the odds. SAWS says it is a governmental entity that is generally immune under the Texas Tort Claims Act, which lists “waterworks” and “water and sewer service” among a city’s governmental functions. The main exception the utility names is damage caused by an employee’s negligent use of motorized equipment or a motor vehicle. Claims can be paid in full, paid in part or denied, and filing one does not mean SAWS accepts liability. The utility also advises people to notify their own insurance company and to make repairs and clean up promptly rather than wait.

“Two years in a row”

For the families on Pennystone, the bigger complaint is the silence. Residents told KSAT they have not been given much information about why the flooding keeps happening or what will be done about the damage.

“Two years in a row? Come on, get it done,” Montemayor said, adding that the utility should clean up its mess.

Homeowners in other neighborhoods have faced a similar mix of soggy lawns and finger-pointing, from a neighbor’s drainage project that flooded a vegetable garden to a raised bed that sent rainwater into the yard next door.

SAWS keeps a list of its active jobs on its construction projects page, including Highland-Goliad, and says customers can call 210-704-SAWS (7297) around the clock for water and sewer emergencies. For updates on the Highland-Goliad work specifically, the project page lists a contact, Byron Gipson, at 210-233-2977.

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: NAVFAC – CC BY 2.0/Wikimedia Commons