MISSION
REACH

Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation Project

Ecosystem Restoration

An ecosystem is a community of living
organisms together with the physical
components of their environment
such as soil, air, water and sunlight.
Ecosystem restoration is the process
of restoring functions to an ecosystem
that has been degraded. Important
functions that can be restored to an
ecosystem include wildlife habitat,
groundwater recharge and filtering
of storm water. The Mission Reach
Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation
Project will restore over 100 acres
of aquatic habitat and over 300
acres of riparian woodland habitat
along the San Antonio River, which
will significantly improve ecological
conditions in this area. Part of this
restoration is visible across the
river between here and Lone Star
Boulevard on the right. This section
is progressing very well. When the
restoration project is complete, the
Mission Reach will look similar to
this area.

For more information please visit
**www.sanantonioriver.org**

Restoration in Progress

Plantings as part of the Mission Reach
Project occurred at different times of
the year and in different years from
each other. The earliest plantings
were completed during March 2010.
Initial construction plantings for the
entire project are expected to be
competed in 2013. Initial plantings
include installation of seed from
over 60 species of native grasses and
wildflowers. Two years after these
initial plantings are established, over
30 species of native tree and shrub
seedlings will be installed throughout
the project. The restored vegetation
will stabilize the river banks, filter
pollutants from storm water, provide
wildlife habitat and conserve native
plant biodiversity.

The above photos illustrate the diversity of the native vegetation growth during different weather conditions. Above left, May 2010; a year with adequate rain fall. Above right: May 2008, a year under severe drought conditions.

Pickled Wood
(Pumiliozia cordata)

Peach Tree
(Carya illinoiensis)

Basket Flower
(Centauris americana)

Maintaining the Project

The San Antonio River Authority (SARA) is completing maintenance of the restored vegetation in the Mission Reach Project. The goals of maintenance are to encourage growth of native plants and discourage growth of non-native plants. This work includes mowing or cutting unwanted plants to prevent them from flowering and seeding, as well as the use of environmentally and aquatically friendly herbicides to control unwanted plants. Mowing will be used on a limited basis to aid in managing unwanted plants; however, the majority of vegetation will be left to grow to the natural height of the various species.

Left: Scarlet Galvita
(Galvita splendens)

Right: Maximilien Sunflower
(Bolianthus maximilianii)

Switch Grass
(Panicum virgatum)

Water Primrose
(Lobwiigia peltigera)

Please Wild By: (Euphorbia sandviana)

floodplain. As a result of flood control channelization and

## STORM WATER TREATMENT

Embayments in the Mission Reach can function as important areas for storm water treatment. When storm water inflows empty into embayments, the water does not leave quickly due to the low-flow conditions. Because the water stops moving in the embayment, sediment (soil and rocks) carried by the storm water settles to the bottom. As the water continues to sit there, impurities like nutrients and bacteria are removed by the aquatic vegetation and the natural bacteria that live in the embayment soil. When the water finally leaves the embayment, it will be cleaner than when it entered. As a result, embayments serve to protect the water quality of the river.

POPULATIONS OF SOME FRESHWATER INSECTS, including dragonflies, mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies, are elevated in the slow flow conditions and varied aquatic vegetation of embayments. These insects provide an important food source for shiner, minnow and sunfish. Abundant food and still water conditions make embayments an excellent place to find migratory waterfowl. As the Mission

Reach project matures, the embayments here have the potential to be an important stopping area for a variety of water birds. What can you see?

Slow-flowing river flowing in a channel meanders, moving water further away from

As the mean river gets closer to the neck forms. that the water together when

After the river that means the river, the

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

Longear Sunfish (Lepomis megalotis)
Stonefly Larva (Tallaperla maria)

ECTS, including
are elevated
vegetation of
food source
and still
at place to find

Megalotis megalotis
maria

Step 1: Formation of the Meander

Slow-flowing rivers do not naturally flow in a straight line. Water flowing in a channel flows in a circular pattern that creates river meanders. Over time, these meanders move outward as faster moving water on the outside of the river bend erodes the bend further away from a straight line, and slower moving water on the inside of the bend deposits the eroded sediment.

Step 2: Separation of the Meander

As the meander moves farther from the rest of the channel, the river gets closer to itself towards the center of the channel and a neck forms. Eventually, the neck of the meander gets so narrow that the water in the river can more easily bypass the meander all together when the water moves more quickly during a flood event.

Step 3: Creation of the Embayment

After the river forms a new pathway that bypasses the meander, that meander gets completely cut off from flowing water in the river. The embayment is now formed. Depending on the depth of the river, the embayment now serves as a lake or backwater area in the river's floodplain.

This illustration demonstrates the four vegetation cover types, varying in tree and shrub density, being planted around a restored embayment.

HABITAT DIVERSIFICATION

Embayments diversify the types of aquatic habitats within one geographical area. Because embayments not have flowing water, they can support myriads of animals that prefer still water. Aquatic and plant species that can easily be uprooted by fair river water thrive in the shallow, protected environments. Examples of aquatic plant species that favor these water-willow.®

ER INSECTS, including
disflies, are elevated
equatic vegetation of
important food source
ant food and still
excellent place to find

Lepomis megalotis
(Tallaperla maria)

HABITAT DIVERSIFICATION

Embayments diversify the types of aquatic life within one geographical area. Because not have flowing water, they can support a variety of animals that prefer still water. Aquatic plant species that can easily be uprooted or uprooted and animals that prefer still water. Aquatic plant species that can easily be uprooted or uprooted thrive in the shallow, protected water of an embayment. Examples of aquatic plant species that include pickerelweed, arrowroot, and water-willow.

AN EMBAYMENT IS A WATER BODY that imitates natural river formations that occur when a meander (curve) in the river becomes separated from the river channel. In this way, embayments are similar to oxbow lakes, billabongs and bayous. Embayment-like features were once a natural part of the San Antonio River system and were commonly found in the river's floodplain. As a result of flood control channelization and

developed were found of future embayments. The river,

## STORM WATER TREATMENT

HABITAT DIVERSIFICATION

Embayments diversify the types of aquatic habitat found within one geographical area. Because embayments do not have flowing water, they can support myriad plants and animals that prefer still water. Aquatic and emergent plant species that can easily be uprooted by fast-moving river water thrive in the shallow, protected embayments. Examples of aquatic plant species that favor these environments include pickerelweed, arrowhead and American water-willow.

## HABITAT DIVERSIFICATION

# H
## tion and Recreation Project

## A Need for Restoration

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers channelization project was successful in reducing the risk of flooding for people who lived in and around the San Antonio River floodplain. However, no thought had been given to the ecological, historical and cultural value of the river to the region. Without woody vegetation or diversity in the stream channel, the river had little value for wildlife that would naturally have been found here. Through ecosystem restoration, the San Antonio River is being transformed from a trapezoidal storm water channel into a functioning ecosystem that will provide all of the ecological functions lost after the original channelization. The Westside Creeks Restoration Project is currently looking at the feasibility of restoring 14 miles of the San Pedro Creek and its tributaries that were also channelized in the original Corps of Engineers project.

Ecosystem Restoration and
San Antonio Channel
Improvements Project

* The San Antonio River has been home to humans for over 10,000 years. As a result, the river has been at the center of development in San Antonio. Close proximity to such a valuable resource came with a cost to people who live here. Historically, several catastrophic flood events caused severe property damage and loss of life in San Antonio. In response, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed 31 miles of trapezoidal flood control channels on the San Antonio River and four creeks on the west side of San Antonio: Alazan, Apache, Martinez and San Pedro Creeks. The map below shows the San Antonio River before (left) and after (right) channelization. The river channel was significantly straightened to remove natural meanders in the river and the width and depth were made uniform. Native vegetation was mostly removed as well.