SAN ANTONIO — More than 11 million people visit the San Antonio River Walk annually, according to Visit San Antonio. It takes a lot to keep it looking good.
On Monday, city crews partnered with the San Antonio River Authority and began draining the main channel. It's going on from Josephine Street to South Alamo. The drain won't affect businesses and the river cruises are using alternate routes to get around.
It's routine maintenance, but the main channel hasn't been drained since 2016.
Nefi Garza is the assistant director for San Antonio Transportation & Capital Improvements. He said they've been draining the river since the 1980s. They used to do it annually. He said improvements have been made to the river since, so it requires less upkeep.
Using front end loaders, they remove sediment and debris. A lot of garbage has piled up in the last couple of years.
"We've found dozens of scooters," Garza said. "We found a whole bunch of chairs, a lot of beads from the parades, medals."
Garza said the debris is collected and taken to a lay yard to dry before it's sent to the landfill. Scooters may be returned to the company they belong to.
Along with cleaning up, the San Antonio River Authority is clearing out a non-native invasive species called the Apple Snail.
Christopher Vaughn is an aquatic biologist with the San Antonio River Authority. He said this is the most likely the result of someone releasing their snail after buying it at the pet store.
"They're voracious eaters of aquatic plants," Vaughn said. "If they're eating those, that takes away food from our native species. The plants are extremely important to the ecosystem, they serve as food and nursery habitats."
Vaughn said they've already collected about 50 of them.
The San Antonio River Authority is also testing water quality by sampling the water that flows through cracks and pipes into the river.
Felix Brenner was caught off guard when he walked his dog along the river.
"I was! I thought I was seeing things. I was like, 'is it normally that low?'" Brenner said.
Near The Pearl, the water level is just about a foot deep. Turtles and fish are still swimming around. Vaughn said they are able to survive in these conditions. In areas where the water level is lower or nonexistent, they've relocated the wildlife. Vaughn said they will continue to walk the area to see if any more need to be moved.
"It's nice to know that's happening and that it's being maintained and kept up to par," Brenner said.
The city will drain the river until Thursday, then start to refill it. The water level should return back to normal 24 hours later.
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