The San Antonio River Authority’s (River Authority) River Warriors are gearing up for a busy and fulfilling year of stewardship and service! In December 2023, we welcomed our new Volunteer Engagement Coordinator – Samantha Villanueva, who comes from a background in volunteer management and environmental education.
Samantha Villanueva
The River Warriors have held two group clean-ups already this year in January at Roosevelt Park and Espada Dam near the San Antonio River, where volunteers picked up over 1,000 pounds of trash! This was crucial in helping with the litter problem as a result of recent rain storms which contributed significant amounts of non-point source pollution.
2024 Basura Bash
At the River Authority, we show our creeks and rivers love and appreciation by keeping them safe, clean, and enjoyable. In celebration of Valentine’s Day, we are celebrating the San Antonio River and its tributaries by supporting the 2024 Basura Bash on February 17!
Led this year by our friends at River Aid San Antonio, Basura Bash is a city-wide clean-up event that is supported organizations across in San Antonio. Currently, we are expecting 75 volunteers to help clean up with the River Warrior crew at Six Mile Creek!
River Warrior Volunteers cleaned Six Mile Creek in 2022.
If you are interested in showing your love for our San Antonio creeks and rivers by participating in the Basura Bash at other San Antonio tributaries, visit http://basurabash.org.
2024 City Nature Challenge
Another exciting event we are preparing for this year is the City Nature Challenge, a global citizen science event in which different areas compete to see who can make the most iNaturalist observations. iNaturalist is a platform that can be used by people who would like to document and identify plant and animal species found in their area. The observations made, either by photo or video, are then identified by the app’s AI or by a species expert in the area and added to the iNaturalist database. This citizen science tool helps researchers understand the abundance of a species in an area and can provide other useful information as well!
The City Nature Challenge lasts from April 26 to April 29, and we are competing as part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Area. Anyone in the city is encouraged to get outside and document as many observations as possible using your phone camera and the iNaturalist app! Last year, we successfully beat out Travis County for the 3rd place in Texas spot. This year, our goal is clear: surpassing both Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston-Galveston for 1st place!
For more information regarding the City Nature Challenge, visit the San Antonio Metro Area website.
If you are interested in participating in the City Nature Challenge and would like to learn more about iNaturalist and how to use it, our resident iNaturalist expert, Peter Hernandez, will be hosting virtual training on February 21 and March 13. Guided walks will be held the Saturday after each of these virtual trainings: Escondido Creek Parkway on February 24 and Branch River Park on March 16. If you would like more information on these trainings, visit our Facebook page or contact us.
2024 Earth Month Litter Challenge
That’s right – it’s an entire month this year! In 2024, the River Authority, along with the River Foundation, is hosting an Earth Month Litter Challenge, where participating companies and organizations will participate in a friendly competition to see which team can collect the most litter throughout April. If you are interested in hosting a team or want more information, please contact us at the email below.
Join The Warriors
The River Authority and our 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. Please visit our website!
