February is a perfect month to highlight our love for the San Antonio River and the communities it serves! In anticipation of spring, we’re devising wonderful ways to experience the great Texas outdoors while ensuring its protection and health. Currently, the River Warriors, the dedicated volunteer corps of the San Antonio River Authority (River Authority) and San Antonio River Foundation (River Foundation) are gearing up for a busy and fulfilling year of stewardship and service!
Looking Back at 2024
As 2024 ended, the River Warriors celebrated with one last cleanup at Confluence Park. Over 450 lbs. of trash from the riverbanks were collected by ten warriors who persevered through less-than-ideal cleanup weather.
The River Warriors enjoyed a highly productive year! Joined by corporate groups including Boeing, Microsoft, Toyota, and JPMorganChase, the Warriors participated in 23 cleanup events in 2024 and removed over 14,000 lbs. of trash from the San Antonio River Watershed.
Employees of JP Morgan Chase at a Cleanup Event
The River Warriors also participated in other activities, such as invasive species removals. One of the most prominent invasive species in the San Antonio River is the Giant apple snail (Pomacea maculata), a species first found in our watershed in 2019. These snails are prolific breeders and have a voracious appetite for native vegetation, making them one of the most destructive invasive species in the river. Each year, the River Authority and its contractors remove thousands of these snails and their egg cases.
During the warmer months, the River Authority hosts trainings for River Warriors to identify and dispatch Apple Snails along the urban stretch of the river. In 2024, our trained River Warriors collected and dispatched over 8,000 combined Adult Apple Snails and Egg Cases. Way to go, River Warriors!
Upcoming Events
At the River Authority, we show our creeks and rivers love and appreciation by keeping them safe, clean, and enjoyable. To show our love, we are celebrating the San Antonio River and its tributaries by supporting the 30th Annual Basura Bash on February 22! Led by our friends at River Aid San Antonio, Basura Bash is a city-wide cleanup event that is supported by organizations across San Antonio. Currently, we are expecting over 100 volunteers to help clean up with the River Warrior crew at Acequia Park and Six Mile Creek! Want to join the fun? The registrations for our locations are currently filled. However, volunteers can register at any of the many other sites to help rid the mountains of trash that hurt our rivers and creeks.
Loving the River is more than reducing litter!
Another exciting event we are preparing for this year is the City Nature Challenge (CNC), a global citizen science event in which different areas compete to see who can make the most nature observations using iNaturalist. iNaturalist let users identify and document plant and animal species found in their area. The observations made are then identified by the app’s AI or by a species expert in the area and added to the app’s growing database. This citizen science tool helps researchers understand the abundance of a species in an area and can provide other useful information as well!
CNC 2025 is taking place over 4 days from April 25-28, 2025. Community scientists across the San Antonio Metro Area are gearing up to best our numbers from last year’s challenge, where we placed 1st in the United States and 3rd in the World. This year, our goal is to hold on to the title of “National Champion”!
To prepare for CNC 2025, the River Authority is once again hosting online virtual iNaturalist trainings for new users who are interested in participating, as well as restarting the Walking on the Wild Side with Nature series in the Southern Basin Counties. If you are interested in joining us, click the link or scan the code below to register for one of our upcoming online trainings or nature walks!
Register for an upcoming iNaturalist Training!
Join The Warriors
If you want to be part of this community movement, partake in the spirit of volunteerism, and show love for our precious freshwater resources, join the River Warrior team! The River Authority, River Foundation and River Warriors are excited for a new year full of exciting volunteer opportunities, including, but not limited to, apple snail removal training, Texas Stream Team water quality monitor training, monthly clean-ups, docent training, and much more. Let’s ❤️ our river together!
