SAN ANTONIO — Ross Haber drives though the same Miller Ranch intersection almost every day, and he's already hit a pothole multiple times.
And it wasn't even the same pothole.
"There were several times when I couldn't see it because it was filled with water," Haber said. "It hasn't messed my car up yet, thank God."
Haber has only lived in the area for six months, but he says the road keeps failing in the same place: Sunset Bend and Wildflower Way. The most recent pothole happened around the last week of February.
Haber isn't alone in his frustration. Miller Ranch South HOA President Jay Sutton said it's been a problem since she moved into the area more than four years ago. Like Haber, she is convinced there is a leak and doesn't know why it's continued this long.
"The road just constantly keeps getting patched up and the leak comes back again. [Bexar County] Public Works comes and patches up the same hole but there are just more holes in the road. It's very dangerous. This is our only entrance to come in this way," Sutton said.
Sutton said she had reached out to San Antonio Water System (SAWS) but was told the leak was coming from a private residence. At the same time, she said they have seen water bubbling in the street on both Sunset Bend and Wildflower Way and she did not believe a private leak was to blame.
Regardless, Bexar County Public Works told KENS 5 there have been around 12 road repairs near that intersection since the beginning of 2021 and the county told KENS 5 via email, "All 12 repairs were caused by water leaks."
But where did these leaks come from? Did SAWS fix them? Who is to blame for this continuing issue? After several weeks and two different public information requests, KENS 5 has some answers.
First, the area around the intersection hasn't had an issue with just one leak. Instead, it's more like 27 different leaks since the beginning of 2021.
This includes more than a dozen water meter leaks, more than a dozen private property leaks, at least one water main leak that was fixed, one alleged water main leak that was not fixed, and one instance where someone hit a fire hydrant.
So who, then, is responsible?
SAWS told KENS 5 last week, they are technically responsible for those water meters, but they didn't actually put the water meters in. Instead, this area was first serviced by another utility, Bexar Metropolitan Water District, which was dissolved back in 2012.
SAWS Communications Manager Anne Hayden told KENS 5 that SAWS had actually replaced many of the previous utilities meters with new electric meters in August of last year. The meter leaks have seemed to stop since then.
The source of the leak causing the latest pothole on Sunset Bend is a bit more contentious.
SAWS repaired a water main leak on Sunset Bend in January. Early last February, someone hit a fire hydrant on Sunset Bend. Late last February, drivers saw water bubbling out of the street on Wildflower Way and running downhill to Sunset Bend. SAWS told KENS 5 this leak was due to a customer leak further up the street that had flowed under the road and then surfaced in the middle of the road.
On the other hand, the leak was in roughly the same place that SAWS had reported a water line breaking in early 2023. SAWS later decided that water line was not leaking after all and didn't fix it.
Regardless, Hayden told KENS 5 that customer leak is now fixed as well so it should no longer be a problem for local drivers.
With the water meters replaced and the customer leak repaired, SAWS hopes there will not be additional issues in the area.
Still, after three years of water leaks, HOA President Jay Sutton told KENS 5 she hopes SAWS will check back in on the area to make sure. She'll also be watching for water in the meantime.
"I don't have a choice but to come this way in and out, so I will see it," Sutton said.