Residents seek answers after repeated flooding from water main replacement project on Southeast Side

Residents living along Pennystone Avenue on the Southeast side said they are still looking for answers after water flooded their properties for the second time in just over a year, damaging belongings and leaving them frustrated with the San Antonio Water System.

The most recent incident happened in August. Residents said that water rushed through an alley behind their homes, spread into their backyards and made its way inside some of their houses. They said a similar incident also happened in July 2025.

Rosie Montemayor, who has lived in her home for 25 years, said she never experienced problems like this until the first flood happened last year.

“This year was even worse than the first time it happened,” Montemayor said.

She also said the water reached inside her home, damaging her game room and a bedroom in the back.

“I had to throw away shoes. We had to throw away a lot of stuff. All my furniture, the legs got all messed up. My furniture is antique. I can’t replace my furniture,” she said.

Montemayor said she also paid more than $500 out of pocket to have a crew power-wash residue left outside her home. She said the damage cost her thousands of dollars, including the cost of replacing tile in her game room.

Her neighbor, Alfred Godoy, said the water also flooded his backyard, traveled underneath his home and came out near his driveway.

“All this area flooded right here in the front and back. I had to clean it up myself. Who else was going to do it,” Godoy said.

Another neighbor, Sylvia Servantes, said the water in the alley was so high and reached her driveway.

“I couldn’t go inside the alley or the backyard at all because the water was high. I couldn’t walk, and my son got scared, and I wanted to panic because all the water was in my driveway,” Servantes said.

Residents described a smell coming from the floodwater and said they believed it may have been wastewater because of its color and odor.

SAWS told KSAT the issue involves an aging 8-inch cast-iron water main in the alley behind the homes.

The utility said the line is included in its Highland-Goliad Water Main Replacement Project, a larger infrastructure project in the neighborhood northwest of Goliad Road and East Southcross Boulevard.

SAWS said the project is intended to replace aging water lines with a history of breaks. The work includes moving water pipes and meters out of alleys and into streets, along with connecting existing customer service lines to the new water mains.

The project covers several streets and areas, including South Walters Street, McDougal Avenue, Cravens Avenue, Glamis Avenue, Waugh Street, Offer, Pennystone Avenue, Lyric Avenue, and areas near Bill Miller Lane.

According to SAWS, the project is expected to replace approximately 17,500 feet of water mains. Its estimated budget is $8.9 million, with work expected to be completed by November 2027.

While the larger project is underway, residents tell KSAT they are frustrated by what they describe as a lack of information about the flooding and what will be done to address the damage.

“Two years in a row? Come on, get it done,” Montemayor said.

Some residents have filed claims with SAWS in hopes of being reimbursed for damage to their properties.

SAWS told KSAT it is working with residents who have filed claims but did not provide additional details about the claims or how they are being handled.

For Montemayor, the priority is making sure the problem is addressed.

“I want them to clean up their mess because it’s their mess, not ours,” she added.

Residents can review active SAWS construction projects here or call 210-233-3500 for updates.