The San Antonio River Authority is a long-time user and advocate of Geographic Information Science/Systems (GIS) technology and solutions and continually strives to enhance and promote GIS within the agency and community. Learn more about the GIS resources that are currently available from the San Antonio River Authority by exploring the viewers and information featured here.
Questions? Be sure to visit our Frequently Asked Questions section at the bottom of the page.
Agency Interactive Viewers
Whether you are sitting at a desk or strolling along the River Walk, interactive GIS viewers are capable of displaying large amounts of data in an attractive, engaging, and user-friendly format. It’s easy to understand why they are a popular tool among GIS users of all skillsets! Learn more about the various projects and initiatives led by or involving the San Antonio River Authority by exploring the viewers featured below.
This application provides basic information about the various floodplains located throughout Bexar, Wilson, Karnes, and Goliad Counties. The data used in the application was collected by San Antonio River Authority and its partners.
Explore
Risk MAP Viewer
The Risk Mapping, Assessment, and Planning (Risk MAP) Viewer provides communities with updated flood hazard information and risk assessment tools they can use to enhance their mitigation plans to better protect their citizens. This viewer was produced in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Explore
Water Quality Viewer
The Water Quality Viewer displays the monitoring efforts for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Clean Rivers Program and summarizes how the water quality in the San Antonio River Basin compares to the Texas Surface Water Quality Standards (TSWQS) using the latest TCEQ Integrated Report assessment.
Explore
Bacteria Dashboard
The River Authority tracks the bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) throughout the San Antonio River Watershed, and created this dashboard to display multiple visualizations of the most current monitoring station information.
Explore
Watershed Master Plan Viewer
Explore
SA Tomorrow Viewer
This application allows users to explore the geography and infrastructural characteristics of the many Regional Centers and Community Areas that are outlined in the SA Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan.
Explore
GIS Open Data
The San Antonio River Authority allows access and use of its data and maps as a public service. This Open Data website allows the public to download San Antonio River Authority’s maps and data. These maps and/or data are to be used for reference and/or informational purposes only and may not have been prepared for or be suitable for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes. It does not represent an on-the-ground survey and represents only the approximate relative location of property boundaries.
Frequently Asked Questions
Great question! The RiskMAP Viewer is a great tool to view where your personal property is located in relation to FEMA-designated flood zones and hazard areas. In addition, the Floodplain Viewer can provide valuable insight on local and regional flood hazards.
For more data and information concerning flood zones, please refer to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Map Service Center website.
Yes! Please visit our open data website, ExploreSARA, to view the data that is currently available for download. If you don’t find what you need on ExploreSARA, please submit a data request and the GIS Team will contact you shortly.
Select LIDAR data is available for download on our open data LIDAR portal. If you are in need of data that is not featured on the portal, please submit a data request and the GIS Team will contact you shortly. If we have the data that you are requesting, we will require you to drop off an external hard drive of at least 2TB at our Environmental Center office location.
Select elevation and terrain contour information for Bexar, Wilson, Karnes, and Goliad Counties is provided on our open data LIDAR portal.
Please go to The River Authority’s Digital Data and Modeling Repository (D2MR) website. There is a general viewer to see where data is available, but a login is required to download it. Simply register on the homepage if you do not have a username and password.
Contact GIS
The GIS Team is a strong advocate for sharing valuable geospatial data and deliverables with both the general public and those in technical fields (i.e. geography, hydrology, environmental science, engineering, etc.). To request a GIS service, please review the following options and, if applicable, submit a GIS data request below. The following options are the two primary ways to download GIS and LIDAR datasets from the River Authority.
Agency GIS Data
If you are requesting data that was used and/or produced by the San Antonio River Authority, please refer to our ExploreSARA open data portal.
LIDAR Data
The San Antonio River Authority is proud to offer LIDAR data at no cost to the requestor. LIDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, utilizes a suborbital platform with various instruments (i.e. laser, scanner, GIS receiver, etc.) to capture a visual representation of natural and man-made features found on the surface of the Earth. The output return of thousands of laser reflection points paints a vivid depiction of the physical features distributed across the study area, making LIDAR technology a valuable tool for terrain analysis.
Below are two methods to gain access to our LIDAR data:
- Visit our open data LIDAR portal to view the following datasets currently available for download: Bexar County (2010 Contours, 2017 Contours), Wilson County (2013 Contours), Karnes County (2013 Contours), Goliad County (2009 Contours)
- Submit a data request below and provide the GIS Team with an external hard drive that can store the requested dataset(s). Because most LIDAR datasets are 1TB or larger in size, please provide a hard drive of 2TB or larger.
When requesting specific LIDAR dataset, please provide the GIS Team with the particular types of LIDAR data (i.e. contours, DEMs, raw files, etc.) that you would like to receive.
The GIS Team will respond to your request within three to five business days. We cannot guarantee a custom, short turn-around time for data requests, so please submit your request well in advance of your project’s due date.
Other GIS Data Sources
For all information and GIS data related to floodplain and watershed management but not maintained by the San Antonio River Authority, please refer to the following local, regional, state, and national entities.