Issues
Edwards Aquifer
One of the number one issues looming over San Antonio is fresh water. For over two centuries, San Antonio and many other cities in the surrounding region were able to grow and prosper without developing surface water or other water resources because of the Edwards Aquifer.
In recent decades, demand for water in the region has increased well beyond the Aquifer's capacity to provide, and there are increasing concerns about the welfare of endangered species and regional economies that depend on spring flows from the Aquifer. For these reasons, water users of the region are facing tough decisions about who owns, controls, and uses Aquifer water.
This can also hold back on the economy of the city and limit growth. Fifteen years ago the city turned down damning the Medina River and creating a reservoir. By not doing this they sent a message that they are not serious about their water problem. This drove many potential businesses, away from coming into the city and creating jobs.
Another issue is ensuring that the aquifer remains unpolluted. If the aquifer were to be polluted San Antonio would be in more serious trouble.
Teen Pregnancy
San Antonio rates second in the U.S. behind Los Angles in teen pregnancy. In the recent campaign for mayor this was brought up as a debate topic. It was responded with getting clubs involved along with better education. This is a serious problem in the city fifty-one percent of Hispanic teen girls get pregnant at least once before age 20, says the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy's.
Reasons for this can be that behaviors and attitudes within families are often modeled not just by parents but older siblings as well. Eighty percent of Hispanic teen mothers live at home for at least a year after giving birth this may help explain why younger siblings of teen parents are two to six times more likely to become teen parents themselves.
Also, motherhood is strongly valued in Hispanic culture, even among teens, who might not be encouraged to finish their educations or begin a career. Also, patterns for teen births more likely occurs in low-income areas with a high Hispanic population.
In fact, the 2000 rates were nearly 80% higher than the national rate of 27.5 teen births per 1000. For the youngest group measured, girls under 15, the teen birth rate in Bexar County was 2.0, more than twice the national rate of .9 teen births (SAMHD, 2002).
Poverty
While most working-age people in Bexar County (San Antonio), hold a job, one in 10 families there still earned less than $10,000 in 2005, according to an economic survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. The number of families in Bexar County living at or below the poverty level was 13.9 percent in 2005, compared with 14.6 in 2004, according to the 2005 Census Bureau's American Community annual survey.
Texas also continues to have the highest percentage of people in the nation without health insurance. It checks in at 24.6 percent, while the national average is 15.9 percent and 19 percent for children in poverty. One in five children in the state are uninsured. Hispanic children were roughly three times as likely to be without health insurance, compared with non-Hispanic white children.
Another group of people that we don’t think about is the elderly. San Antonio has a lot of senior citizens that retire from one of the military bases who are often on a fixed income. They receive their monthly checks, which are often not enough to bring them out of the poverty level.
Drugs
San Antonio has become a convenient highway for drugs coming from Mexico on their way to the U.S. due to its southern location in Texas. Several interstates and U.S. highways converge in San Antonio and provide easy access to the city from most areas along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Shipments of cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamines are often transported to San Antonio, stored at stash locations throughout the city, and then shipped to drug markets in the eastern and central United States, notably Atlanta and Chicago. Some of these drugs stay in the city causing significant abuse concerns for law enforcement.
There is also a prison gang Mexikanemi, which is based in San Antonio. They control a significant portion of drug distribution in the city. They supply many local street gangs in San Antonio, and also sell to small communities surrounding San Antonio. Mexikanemi members have also been known for violence and assaults, murders, and shootings.
The abuse and distribution of drugs contributes to high levels of property crimes that in some parts of the city are excessive. Drug-related arrests continue to increase in San Antonio. Arrests associated with drugs increased significantly from 2005 to 2006, according to the SAPD. Marijuana-related arrests increased 16.9 percent, heroin-related arrests increased 7.7 percent, cocaine-related arrests increased 35.4 percent, and methamphetamine-related arrests increased 35.6 percent.
Table 3. Number of Drug-Related Arrests in San Antonio, 2005-2006
Drugs |
2005 |
2006 |
Marijuana* |
4,083 |
4,774 |
Heroin |
547 |
589 |
Cocaine |
2,486 |
3,365 |
Methamphetamine |
433 |
587 |
*Includes felony and misdemeanor arrests.
Drug-related treatment admissions in San Antonio increased 76 percent from 2002 to 2005, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Amphetamine/methamphetamine-related treatment admissions, have more than tripled between 2002 (91 admissions) and 2005 (306 admissions); 2005 is the latest year for which data are available. Increasing methamphetamine abuse rates are quite likely the result of the increased availability of the drugs into the city.
Other Issues
Other issues that the city is concerned about is the condition of their streets and drainage system. Although they have a water conservation issue when it rains it pours causing flooding and many of the roads are closed until the small creeks can carry the water away. Many homes were built in flood plains, which is a constant concern of these citizens.
