The San Antonio River Authority has published its first-ever report card. The report card is based on 12 indicators, including areas such as restoration, habitat, swimming standards and public trash. Overall the report card gives the San Antonio River Basin a "B."
Areas that scored well in the report include stream restoration, growth of the whooping crane population and park usage. Poorly scoring indicators included public trash — which gained an "F" score — as well as flood insurance coverage. According to the San Antonio River Authority website, trash in the river requires extensive costs in hard dollars and labor by the River Authority and other local government agencies along with community volunteers to remove by hand.
Swimming standard rated a "D" score. Swimming is generally not recommended in the San Antonio River. The water quality is checked for E. coli, a bacteria that comes from wildlife, domestic animals and humans. The San Antonio River Authority hopes that the report card will bring about community discussions that lead to individual choices and public policy decisions, actions, and investments that support a sustainable San Antonio River Basin.
The San Antonio River Basin carries surface water from within the Hill Country to near the Gulf Coast and includes portions of 14 different counties.
You can find out more and view the report card and associated metrics at sariverauthority.org.
