Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularia) EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Vision CHAIRMAN Inspiring Actions for Healthy Creeks and Rivers Michael W. Lackey, P.E. VICE-CHAIR Darrell T. Brownlow, Ph.D. Mission SECRETARY Lourdes Galvan Protect and Enhance Our Creeks and Rivers Through Service, TREASURER Leadership and Expertise Jim Campbell MEMBERS-AT-LARGE Gaylon J. Oehlke James Fuller BOARD OF DIRECTORS Bexar County District 1 Jerry G. Gonzales District 2 3 Connecting San Antonio’s 8 Martinez IV Wastewater Lourdes Galvan Westside by Trail Treatment Plant District 3 By Lourdes Galvan By Amy Middleton Michael W. Lackey, P.E. Board Member, Bexar County District 2 Senior Technical Engineer District 4 3 A Gift for the Community 9 Escondido Creek Parkway: Jim Campbell By John Flieller A Place for the Future At Large Board Member, Wilson County Stories of Karnes County Hector R. Morales By Chelsea Giles Deb Bolner Prost 4 San Antonio River Tunnel 2 Intergovernmental Relations Wilson County Anniversary: 20 Years of Coordinator Downtown Growth John J. Flieller Darrell T. Brownlow, Ph.D. By Steve Graham 10 I Inspire Actions By…. Assistant General Manager By Kevin Boeck Karnes County Senior Budget Analyst H.B. Ruckman, III 5 Confluence Park Grand Gaylon J. Oehlke Unveiling 10 Paddling into Wilson County Goliad County By Robert Amerman By Marissa Korth James Fuller Executive Director Community Relations Coordinator Alicia Lott Cowley San Antonio River Foundation 11 SARA Hosts Water Forum General Manager 6 And the Winner is… VIII – River Reflections Suzanne Scott By Steven Schauer By Yviand Serbones-Hernandez Director of Government and Public Community Relations Coordinator Affairs Steven Schauer, Director of 11 South Texas Natives Government & Public Affairs 8 Shaping Schools with Green By Carrie Merson Infrastructure Education Specialist Rebecca Wilson By Rebecca Wilson Executive Editor Community Relations Coordinator 12 The San Antonio River Receives International Clint Marzec Accolades Graphic Designer By Suzanne Scott General Manager San Antonio River Authority Phone: (210) 227-1373 Toll Free: (866) 345-7272 Fax: (210) 302-3693 Email: [email protected] www.sara-tx.org Connecting San Antonio’s A Gift for the Westside by Trail Community By Lourdes Galvan, Board Member, Bexar County District 2 By John Flieller, Board Member, Wilson County The San Antonio River Authority In 2017, the San Antonio River (SARA) and the City of San Antonio Authority (SARA) celebrated 80 years have been hard at work on the of exceptional service provided to design of the Westside Creeks trail the communities of Bexar, Wilson, extensions. The existing trails along Karnes and Goliad Counties. In the Alazán, Apache and Martinez recognition of the accomplishments and collaborations between the Creeks have seen a great deal of community and SARA throughout use by cyclists, joggers and families the years, SARA is making out for afternoon strolls. SARA staff contributions to further enhance and the members of the Westside the community and thank the Creeks Restoration Oversight Committee are looking constituents we serve. SARA is donating 15 commemorative forward to the connectivity the trail extensions will provide benches as a gift to the community. Each bench will be the residents of the surrounding neighborhoods to the San installed within a community park or public location Antonio River Walk and Mission Reach stretches of the San throughout Wilson, Karnes and Goliad Counties. By installing Antonio River. these benches, we hope to encourage residents and visitors alike to take a moment to enjoy their surroundings, make The proposed trail improvements for Alazán Creek connections with their fellow neighbors, and to appreciate begin at Lombrano Street and span approximately 3 the beauty of the native plants and wildlife that make each miles downstream to the confluence of Apache Creek, community unique. Communities to receive SARA benches near Laredo Street. This trail completes a connection include: from Woodlawn Lake to the Mission Reach and will give residents the opportunity to recreate and enjoy the • Floresville • Karnes City 3 • Stockdale • Kenedy beautiful UNESCO World Heritage San Antonio Missions. • La Vernia • Runge The Martinez Creek 1.5-mile trail extension begins at • Poth • Falls City Cincinnati Street and extends to the confluence with the • Wilson County • Goliad Alazán Creek trail at the City’s Mario Farias Park. This trail • Karnes County will provide a connection to the VIA Metropolitan Primo For years to come, the commemorative benches, currently bus line that serves the Medical Center and Downtown in the delivery and installation stage, will serve as a token areas and will provide a valuable mode of transportation to of appreciation and a continuous reminder of SARA’s major metropolitan hubs for work and recreation. commitment to protecting and enhancing our creeks and The final creek extension is the addition of a trail along rivers through service, leadership and expertise. Zarzamora Creek. This one-mile stretch of trail will extend from Elmendorf Lake Park to Alderete Park just south of St. Mary’s University. The trail will reach deeper into the neighborhoods on the Westside, providing park access to the residents along with a connection to the Apache Creek trail all the way down to the San Pedro Creek and Mission Reach. Please look forward to the completion of the trails in early 2020. To learn more about the Westside Creeks, visit www.westsidecreeks.com. The Westside is a vibrant, culturally rich Pictured from left to right: Wilson County neighborhood ready for the quality of life Commissioners Albert Gamez, Jr. and Paul W. Pfeil, improvements that these trails will bring. Wilson County Judge Richard L. Jackson, Wilson County Commissioners Ernest “Skip” Hajek and Larry A. Wiley San Antonio River Tunnel Anniversary: 20 Years of Downtown Growth By Steve Graham, Assistant General Manager 20 years ago, some 150 San Antonians braved the winter cold The second tunnel, which runs under San Pedro Creek, to witness the unwrapping of a long-awaited, early Christmas begins at the tunnel inlet on West Quincy Street near the present. Dec. 12, 1997 marked the official opening of San Cristopher Columbus Italian Society and Fox Tech. The tunnel Antonio River Tunnel, a 3.1 mile underground flood control outlet emerges near Interstate 35 at Guadalupe Street. tunnel that runs from Josephine Street, near Brackenridge The San Pedro Creek tunnel became operational in 1991. Park, to the outlet located off of Lone Star Boulevard near Together, the tunnels transport floodwaters 150 feet beneath Roosevelt Park. downtown San Antonio and release it downstream, moving The massive project, which also included its one-mile up to three million gallons of water per minute. Augmented sister—the San Pedro Creek Tunnel, cost $150 million for both by a comprehensive flood control system of dams, flood tunnels, most of which was funded by the U.S. Army Corps of gates, and drainage features, the San Antonio Flood Tunnel Engineers. The local match, sourced primarily from the Bexar is credited with averting significant property damage during County Flood Control Tax, accounted for $31.2 million. Of major flood events in 1998, 2002, 2013 and May 2015. the total price tag for the two tunnels, the San Antonio River Tunnel cost around $111.4 million. Today, downtown San Antonio is a major hub for economic opportunity, recreation, and community vibrancy, thanks Ten months after the tunnel was completed, San Antonio in part to the two tunnels. While our city’s history has been witnessed the all-too-familiar wrath of flash-flood alley. marked by flooding disaster, our story is one of resiliency Only this time, floodwaters, which would have decimated and community empowerment. Over 20 years ago, smart downtown San Antonio less than a year prior, were diverted beneath the surface via the engineering marvel. The San planning and local support for long-term community 4 Antonio River Tunnel met its first test with brilliance and investments provided today’s San Antonians and future fortitude, saving lives and property—the value of which was generations with greater opportunity to recreate, work estimated to exceed the cost of the tunnel, virtually paying and flourish in our city center. Here’s to the next 20 years of for itself in one bout with nature. downtown growth. Confluence Park Grand Unveiling By Robert Amerman, Executive Director, San Antonio River Foundation Confluence Park, San Antonio’s $13 million environmental to celebrate the achievement of a dream many years in the education park on the South Side of San Antonio, will making. experience its world premiere in March 2018. We invite you to stop by to experience this incredible new Mission Reach River On the evening of March 7, we will celebrate the collaborative Walk addition! heart of the park by partnering with another non-profit, the Las Casas Foundation, for a benefit concert in the heart of Confluence Park can be interpreted as one large, organic downtown San Antonio. Pink Martini, featuring lead singer teaching machine combining natural and mechanical China Forbes, will be LIVE at the historic Majestic Theatre. Pink elements to spotlight ecological processes and watershed Martini has been billed as “a rollicking musical adventure” concepts. This privately funded public space is designed and “the United Nations house band of 1962 (if they had to encourage thoughtful environmental stewardship. The one).” Tickets are available through