San Antonio River with sky reflection

Clean Rivers Program

In 1991, the Texas Legislature passed the Texas Clean Rivers Act [Senate Bill 818]. The Act was intended to move Texas towards comprehensive water resources planning and management to ensure the integrity of the state’s water supply over the long term. The Clean Rivers Act requires an ongoing assessment of water quality issues and management strategies statewide. The Act established the Texas Clean Rivers Program (CRP) under the Texas Water Commission (now the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TCEQ). The program is funded by fees assessed on wastewater discharge permittees and water rights holders as well as through TCEQ’s own state appropriations.

For more information on the Clean Rivers Program please visit the TCEQ CRP website. This website has information about the statewide program and links to Clean Rivers Program partner websites.

South Texas Plains ecoregion of the San Antonio River


Cooperative Monitoring Schedule

The objective of the Cooperative Monitoring Schedule is to provide a process by which Planning Agencies will coordinate their monitoring activities with the TCEQ and other qualified monitoring organizations within the basin. The coordinated monitoring schedules are developed each spring in order to implement the new schedules for the coming fiscal year.

Further information may be found at the Lower Colorado River Authority's website.
 

Quality Assurance Project Plan

The Clean Rivers Program requires a Quality Assurance Project Plan in order to provide the level of consistency and scientific validity of data needed for decision-making across the state. Quality Assurance Project Plans are crucial for documenting how the San Antonio River Authority (River Authority) plans, implements, and assesses the quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) activities related to water quality monitoring.

Clean Rivers Program Maps and Details


CRP Partners

As part of the Texas CRP, the San Antonio River Authority partners with the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District and the City of Boerne to monitor the entire San Antonio River Basin.

The Texas Stream Team is a volunteer monitoring program that conducts monitoring throughout Texas using volunteer citizen scientists.

To find a list of other CRP Partners that monitor Texas basins, visit here.

Steering Committee Meeting Information

Information about the River Authority’s Clean Rivers Program (CRP) Steering Committee, including agendas and presentations, can be found by following the link for the Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC). If you would like to contact a member or would like more information about the committee, please click here.

Water Quality Data

The San Antonio River Authority’s Environmental Sciences Department, along with its partners, conduct water quality monitoring, biological community and habitat assessments throughout the San Antonio River Watershed. This data is submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), and is used to assess whether streams are meeting their designated use(s). The River Authority Regional Environmental Laboratory, a TCEQ Accredited Laboratory, conducts analysis of the surface water samples. Biological and habitat assessments are completed by the Watershed Monitoring Aquatic Biologists. The data can be viewed and downloaded through a Geographic Information System (GIS) application. To view and download data please follow the link.

Basin Impairment and Concerns

The Impairment and Concerns summarized the assessment results by assessment units in the San Antonio River Watershed as identified in the Texas Commission on Environment Quality (TCEQ) 2020 Integrated Report (IR)

The Integrated Report is a biennial report describing the status of the state’s surface waters, as required by Sections 305(b) and 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act. Main water segments in the San Antonio Watershed are divided into assessment units (AU) which are assigned an integrated level of support category based on water quality data availability and analysis for the IR period of record start and end dates – typically seven years.

The IR is structured in the following manner:

Segment ID A water body or portion of a water body that is individually defined in the Texas Surface Water Quality Standards. The classified segments are assigned four-digit numbers (e.g. 1901), while an unclassified segment is five-digit (e.g. 1901A). The first two digits correspond to the major basin in which they are located. The last two digits distinguish individual segments within the particular basin. The San Antonio River Watershed consists of the following classified segments.

  • 1901 - Lower San Antonio River
  • 1902 - Lower Cibolo Creek
  • 1903 - Medina River Below Medina Diversion Lake
  • 1904 - Medina Lake
  • 1905 - Medina River Above Medina Lake
  • 1906 - Lower Leon Creek
  • 1907 - Upper Leon Creek
  • 1908 - Upper Cibolo Creek
  • 1909 - Medina Diversion Lake
  • 1910 - Salado Creek
  • 1911 - Upper San Antonio River
  • 1912 - Medio Creek
  • 1913 - Mid Cibolo Creek

AUID Identifies the assessment unit (AUID, six or seven digits, e.g., 1901A_01) and describes the location of the specific area within a classified or unclassified water body for which one or more water quality standards are not met.

Use The purposes for which the water should be suitable. Each water body is assigned uses and criteria or parameters consistent with the Texas Water Quality Standards that are evaluated against ambient water quality data for determining support or attainment of the use. 
2018 Guidance for Assessing & Reporting Surface Water Quality in Texas

Method A group of parameters, e.g. Nutrient Screening Levels consists of the following parameters: Nitrate, Ammonia, Total Phosphorus, and Chlorophyll-a.

Parameter is a pollutant or water quality condition that assessment procedures indicate meet or do not meet the assigned water quality standards or screening levels (e.g. Ammonia, E.coli, and Dissolved Oxygen Grab).

Integrated Level of Support is the overall level of support for this use, method, parameter group, which could be different from the Level of Support (LOS).

Integrated Level of Support Category
FS - Fully Supporting (Not Impaired)
NC - No Concern (Not Impaired)
NA - Not Assessed (Not Impaired)
NS - Nonsupport (Impaired)
CS - Screening Level Concern (Concern)
CN - Use Concern (Concern)

Source Credits