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Recent beneficial rains have boosted the water level enough in the Edwards Aquifer to allow water restrictions to be eased on permitted pumpers across the region, such as cities and agricultural interests.
The Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA) has lifted Stage 4 restrictions and returned to Stage 3 for groundwater permit holders in Medina, Bexar, and parts of Atascosa, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Comal, and Hays counties.
The EAA on Monday reported the ten-day average at Comal Springs was 100 cubic feet per second (cfs), and the ten-day average at the J-17 index well is 632.7 feet above mean sea level (ft. amsl), which are each above the Stage 4 threshold.
Stage 4 conditions have existed since August 2025 due to a drought now in its seventh year.
Under Stage 4, pumpers must reduce water withdrawals from the aquifer 40% below permitted levels. Under Stage 3, that reduction is eased to 35%.
Stage 5, water pumping must be reduced by 44%.
Stage 3 restrictions are triggered when the aquifer dips to 640 feet. Stage 4 is implemented when the underground reservoir drops to 630 feet and Stage 5 restrictions are put in place when the aquifer sinks to 625 feet.
San Antonio Water System (SAWS) customers will continue to follow Stage 3 restrictions because the utility has several sources of water to draw from beyond the aquifer, so the staged restrictions don't correlate between the EAA and SAWS.
Under Stage 3, SAWS residential customers can only water landscaping with an automated sprinkler once a week based on street address and only between the hours of 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. to midnight.
More than 2.5 million residents rely on the aquifer as a source of water.
